Back in his room, Sebastian prepared to memorize the books using a draconic technique. He knew he would need to practice in private. Eldrick should not learn of these spells and rituals until he had passed his journeyman trials.
He spent half the night memorizing the first tome, everything from attack spells to shape-changing. Happy to have the shape-changing spells finally he decided to practice that one first thing in the morning. His only regret was that it didn't cover the sapient species like humans. His essential being didn’t change, just his appearance. This meant he could return to his own form by cancelling the spell.
For the next couple of weeks, the routine altered. Eldrick returning to his chores in the morning, training most of the day. Sebastian continued his nightly studies. Eldrick growing stronger with each passing day.
Sergei looking more proud of his protégé. At the end of the two weeks, he declared that Eldrick's shields were much improved. Eldrick admitting that he wasn’t as tired as the first day, in fact, he wasn’t tired at all which meant that the magical muscles were much stronger.
The next morning as Sebastian was practicing shape-changing he decided to shield as well. He could feel the fluctuations of magical energy in the front room.
“Excellent. Your shields have become instinctual. I am so glad. Now tell me where Sebastian is,” demanded Sergei.
“I wish I knew,” replied Eldrick. “He was in his room when I got up but now, I cannot sense him at all.”
“Sebastian you can come out now. Even I have no idea where you are. It seems you have mastered the skill.”
"Honestly, I am still in my room. Come check if you would like."
Heading to Sebastian’s room Sergei critiqued Eldrick’s skill and competence. He was very proud, however, Eldrick still had work to do. Now that he had mastered shielding, they could proceed with other spell casting techniques and incantations. Though Sebastian no longer needed to leave for the training.
Opening the door, they peered into the room, occupied by a dragon claw bed, small bedside table, desk and couch. Sitting in the middle of the bed was a small tawny rabbit. Its nose twitching happily with what could only have been a gleam of mirth in its eyes.
“I see you have been practicing your own magics," Sergie chuckled. "Very good, have you learned anything else that may be of use? I fear Eldrick may need to master another form of magic other than the human style and druidic." A look of concern crossing his face. "If you learn something that could be beneficial for him to learn let me know. He is much more powerful than I, which means that he should be able to work the spells.” Looking over at Eldrick he added “I know you are here and I shouldn’t be talking about you as if you weren’t. Now we should eat and take care of the morning chores then return to the task at hand, which is learning magic.”
Shifting back into his normal form Sebastian met Sergei’s eyes with a nod. Sergei and Eldrick retreated to the main room so Eldrick could learn more of the magic he was going to need to complete his training and become a full member of the conclave.
"If you don’t mind, I will remain in my room to study. This way I am not interfering in the vital instruction, nor am I a distraction from just being in the room." His gaze turning to Eldrick.
“That works for me. This way I can concentrate on what Sergei needs me to. He isn’t worried about you smudging up the newly drawn sigils,” replied Eldrick looking slyly over at Sergei, and somewhat longingly at Sebastian.
Sebastian spent the day in his room poring over the next tome, curses and counter curses, with a little about the transference of spells from one target to another. He found it devastatingly profound and intriguing. Not only could one counter a curse, but they could transfer the backlash from the original caster to another without taking any harm. This was something he would need to discuss with Sergei as it could have some serious ramifications if used by an unscrupulous being. Also, if someone wished to throw suspicion on to someone else so that they could cover their tracks. Oh, this could be very interesting.
Some counter curses required the blood of an animal depending on the strength or variety. These were not magic spells Sebastian ever wanted to perform;however, they were good to know if they became necessary.
Throughout the day Sebastian built his lexicon of spells, realizing as he did so that in order to cast certain spells, he would have to know others simply because they were built on that spell. The cascade of spells needed was immense. Some of the notes on incantations referred to other tomes and incantations described there. Sebastian was ever more grateful for the learning trance. He studied the handwritten notes in the margins with particular onus, they were sometimes warnings and at other times comical anecdotes recording humorous mishaps.
* * *
Meanwhile back in the main room of the house, Sergei proceeded to instruct Eldrick in the proper use of defensive magic.
“There are many types of defensive magics which may be utilized and many have no relation to shielding at all. I would like you to consider what types of spells could be cast defensively as opposed to offensively. Therein lays today’s challenge. While you are considering this, I am going to collect some things from my room which will help in your lessons. I know that you have not had much time for reading lately but that is about to change."
"Usually, the instruction of an apprentice is all passed along through verbal tradition. These tomes are not from the druid tradition and yet I wish you to study them with the same deference you have shown for all the other learning you have so far partaken. We will be going back to the druid magical spells sometime in the future before your journeyman trials since you are going to have to show proficiency in them. But for now,” Sergei’s voiced droned on and diminished as he left the room. “There is much to be learned and not a lot of time to learn it. So, the first thing I am going to teach you is trance learning. A technique my father taught me, and his father taught him. I don't know where he learned it, but from the stories I was told as a child, my grandfather had many teachers. Somehow, he befriended the most unlikely group of friends. So, here are the tomes. I expect this should take you some time to go through and I expect you to give dissertations on some of the spells chosen at random but marked with a small star in charcoal beside the name,” he continued to drone on coming back into the room, speaking as if he had never left.
“Egad sir, there must be about thirty tomes in that pile. You expect me to get through all of those plus my regular studies and chores before the Feast of Servalin?” flummoxed Eldrick. “I should think I would be lucky to get through maybe a tenth of that pile.”
“My dear boy I expect you to get through this pile in the next week. Now what sort of spells could be used defensively which most would consider non-defensive spells?”
“Earthmoving spells, healing spells; but aren’t they already a defensive spell: air spells? I am sorry sir I just cannot think of spells considered non-defensive that can be used defensively.”
“I guess that is partially my fault as I have not covered a wide arrange of spells. Consider what Sebastian did earlier today, with the transformation into a rabbit. Could transformation magic be used defensively? Could it be used offensively? And if so, how would you use it for either?” inquired Sergei sardonically.
Eldrick sat there with a stunned look upon his face. How could transformation be used offensively as well as defensively. Thoughts of mice and rats crept through his mind, as well as bears and dragons. He also considered the fact that if you transformed your enemy into something you could defeat them easier. All this contemplating was beginning to allow him to see possibilities which were not obvious. Like placing a shield not around yourself but around your opponent, where it was likely to do you the most defensive good yet was an offensive move. If placed close enough to the body it could suffocate them. If he could consider this so would others which would mean that he had to make sure there was a decent amount of space between his shields and himself so that he would have a chance if someone were to try to suffocate him with shields, which would mean constricting his own shields in upon themselves. He would also be extremely vulnerable while he slept, which meant that he would need to choose his resting spaces with care so that he could anchor his shields to things other than himself, like a rock shelf, or a fallen tree and the ground.
* * *
With a shudder, Eldrick seemed to come back to the room with a look of horror upon his face. His eyes, glassy as if looking out into the distance and seeing nothing, like looking into a void of pitch-black with no escape. A blast of golden power exploded in the centre of the room, filling the protective circle, growing ever brighter. The power levels grew until Sergei thought the circle couldn't hold anymore. Eldrick in the center surely had to be dead. Just as suddenly as it appeared, it retreated leaving Eldrick alone and unscathed, in some form of trance. He began leafing through the tomes Sergei had brought, his eyes flashing back and forth. Page after page, book after book, tome after weighty tome. The speed at which he was absorbing the information was unnatural.
Watching this from his chair by the fireplace, Sergei sat in stunned silence. It was as if someone had just reached out and slapped him across the face, someone he trusted implicitly who would never consider such an act. Sergei foresaw many implications to this as Eldrick devoured the tomes. Without being instructed, Eldrick was in the learning trance, devouring every bit of information in the tomes. Arising from his chair, Sergei rushed to his room, gathering more tomes which he placed in the pile to be read.
Eldrick worked his way through every tome in about four hours. He collapsed like a marionette with its strings cut. There was not a tome left that he had not read. Sergei worrying about information overload, picked Eldrick up gently and carried him to his bed.
After putting his apprentice to bed, he went to the kitchen to prepare a restorative tea. Eldrick was going to need it he thought to himself. Leaving the tea on the bedside table, Sergei retreated to his hidden library to gather different tomes. With loving care he replaced the tomes Eldrick had already read.
Eldrick had gone through more tomes in a day than Sergei had in a month. If there were any doubts before about Eldrick’s abilities, they were gone. The new tomes, some of which had confused the old man when he first studied them. After years of study, he finally understood them.
He was sure his library was more extensive than the high druids, his family had been collecting them since his great grandfather. Siegfried had wanted to become the high druid, but couldn’t bring himself to challenge for the position since it was a challenge to the death. By the time he was ready to challenge he had a family to consider. Losing such a challenge was unthinkable for him. As it was, news of his demise was sent to his family through a messenger from a faraway land in which he had gone to act as a mediator for peace. His mission was a success but he died on his way home. The messenger that came was not human, but a crimson dragon, who stayed and became friends with the family. It was rumoured that the same dragon would come back and visit every so often, though Sergei had never met him.
Gathering the new tomes and the lift basket, he returned to the main room and sealed the hidden passage again. Looking about he placed the tomes beside his chair in preparation for the morrow. Gathering his courage, he approached Sebastian’s door, with a tentative knock he waited for a reply, knowing that to enter the room could have consequences since he knew Sebastian was practicing magic in there as well.
"You can come in Sergei. We have much to discuss like what that energy eruption was."
Opening the door, Sergei entered the room. Passing over the threshold was like trying to walk through waist-deep snow, when he realized that a protective barrier had been placed around the room. Once through the barrier, he realized that sound from within the room would not escape into the main portions of the house. In essence, anything happening in this room would not leave it.
"Eldrick is more powerful than you expected. I can tell from your consternated look. Did you teach him the learning trance?" Sebastian cocking his head to one side reminded Sergei of a chicken looking at a grub.
“I never got the opportunity to divulge that information to him. He slipped into it on his own and devoured more information in four hours than I could in four months," he mopped his brow with his handkerchief. "I fear he may not be human at all but a changeling. If that is so, I may have made a big mistake. The truth will be in how he reacts to the next texts I have chosen for him.”
"I do not think you have to worry about him being a changeling. He may be touched by fae magic which could be just as bad." Sebastian slid a book over to Sergei. "Not for us, but for him. I also think there may be more to his story than you know. Let us continue with the belief that he is human, or we risk destroying his mind." Sebastian opened another book and passed it over. "I have been reading the tomes you leant me. It seems that the dragon whom your grandfather befriended is my elder. He talked about visiting a family up in the mountains over the years, but the way he put it, it was more like visiting family."
“Really that seems odd, but then I do not understand much about draconic relationships. I have been told that there are rare relationships in draconic society. The rarest being those that actually mate for life. Dragon-Dragon mated pairings are the rarest and then there are those that choose to life bond with another race usually human.”
"That is quite true. My great uncle was one such. Though it isn't really a choice," Sebastian's brow wrinkled. "He fell in love with a human girl named Annabelle. He never really came back to visit the rest of the family until she passed away. They had one child whom they named Sigmund. He lived in a small village south of here and moved when he was about 30 and built a farmstead out in the wilderness."
“Wait what are you saying,” asked Sergei incredulously. “My grandfather’s name was Sigmund. He and my great grandfather carved this farmstead out of the wilderness before he married and had a family. Being a druid is a family tradition started by my great grandfather who died of a heart attack at the age of seventy-five while returning from a mission. There is no way he was a dragon. There cannot be. Is there any proof to this?”
"There is if you actually read the side notes in the dragon tomes," Sebastian pointed with a claw. "I paid special attention to them as they could sometimes give vital information regarding the actual information in the tomes. I know this seems rather odd, but it is true."
They discussed the information for several hours. They learned that through the notes in the tomes they were related. This is where the connection came from, they had tried to figure out earlier. The relationship was intriguing. Some of the family's history was discovered. It was discovered that their distant relatives were one of the first soulbound mated pair of dragons. About three hundred twenty years ago they were killed by a human named Veldar. the current high druid who has been in that position for over three hundred fifty years. The dragons have long memories and even longer lives. The high druid has made a habit of using a special life-extending spell.
After many hours, Sebastian understood Sergei better, which included his choice about the transformation of Eldrick. That didn’t mean that he agreed with the decision. They also discussed the extreme release of energy which apparently originated from Eldrick just before he entered the learning trance on his own. Sebastian was intrigued by this since it was not unknown in the dragon community but a very rare ability, though completely unheard of in human society until now. Sebastian also admitted to feelings of attraction to Eldrick, an oddity but not unheard of, especially since he knew that Eldrick is not naturally male but a transformed female.
"I have a question for you. What happens if someone other than yourself or Eldrick breaks the spell? What type of magical feedback is there? What would happen to you?"
“That is not something I wish to consider. There are a few different possible outcomes. One is that the spell backlashes, I become like Eldritch is now." His face fell, "Another is that the backlash of magical energy could kill me. Either of these outcomes would destroy who I am. Either is very likely especially with how many times I have cast the spell on Eldrick so that it wouldn’t deteriorate. I started a few days before you left to go hunting. Have you discovered anything about your problem in the tomes I gave you to read?”
"I have, it seems I am destined to become one of the few who succumb to being soulbound with another. Since I now understand the process and have identified the cause, I can now balance my energies and capabilities." Sebastian gave a broad toothy grin. "I will definitely be travelling with Eldrick during his journeyman trials. The question I have is, will he be allowed a horse for his travels? If so, I will undertake that position since I have learned how to shape change effectively," his grin fading away. "I won’t let anything happen to him; you can stake my life on that. I cannot lose him even if he remains a he and doesn’t return to a female form. You do not need to worry about anything leaving this room, it has been layered in protective shields and barriers. Also, I can spell cast in any form I take which makes it much harder for Veldar to track it back to me."
“That will be a good thing. I hope it does not have to come to that. Eldrick should be able to take care of himself. I truly hope that the high druid respects the trials and doesn’t try anything against my apprentice." His face took on a dark visage. " My last three apprentices did not complete the journeyman trials. I would suggest you take special care not to be discovered by the high druid. From what I know he is currently searching for another dragon to sacrifice. If he doesn’t renew the spell soon it will decay and he will age rapidly to his true age. But then I do not fully understand the spell.”
