Cody woke slowly from the strange dream, and as he came to his senses he felt the same feeling as he had before he had gone to sleep, if indeed that's what it was. Shivers coursed through his body as he continued to repeat to himself, I am a dragon rider. The image of the strange dragoness from his dream surrounded his mind in a wave of acceptance, and a sense of understanding came to him. Cody looked at his hands and saw that they were just a shade more golden than before; as were his arms and his entire body, if he could have seen every part of him.

The sensation, he knew, was the magic that was unleashed into his entire body. The magic coursed through his veins, along his bones, and under his very skin in faint waves of invisible energy. On instinct he urged the power outward; trying to use the magic by releasing it to the air around him. But as the magic faded nothing happened, so he stopped and focused on it and studied it carefully.

After what felt like a few moments more he figured out enough about the energy to urge it to a particular part of his body: his hands. As the magic began to pour from his fingertips Cody realized that he needed to decide what he wanted to do with the magic. Without a single thought and only an instinctive twist of will, he compressed his hands together and a tiny ball of flame, perhaps two inches in diameter, shimmered to life between his palms. A wave of excitement rolled through him and a second later the magic ran out and the ball of fire winked out of existence.

"I had it!" he announced loudly as a mixture of awe, excitement, and disappointment washed over him.

Cody suddenly realized that he was enclosed in a small room of rock, likely made by Doubtful to give him privacy. But at the sound of his voice Doubtful approached and lowered the walls of his little room to reveal the large hall. Confusion swept over the rider as he suddenly realized that he had been in the room for well over three hours. On the opposite side of the room was another little rock room where he figured Avalsmokes was practicing his own technique.

Cody was pulled out of his observations as Doubtful said, "I felt the magical energy coming from your cave. Did you produce magic?"

"Y-yes!" Cody stuttered, but after a second his thoughts returned. "It was difficult, but I conjured a little tongue of fire."

"Show me."

The rider stepped back in surprise for a second but quickly brought his thoughts together. With a last look at his mentor he closed and eyes and thought again of the thing that had brought the elation and energy before. He was a rider, destined to live on the back of a dragon and in the heart of his partner. It took several minutes but was much faster than before, until Cody felt the magical energy return to his body.

It coursed through him with renewed vigor, ready to be guided by his command. After a minute or so of pooling the energy Cody urged it to his fingertips and coaxed it out of his body. When he opened his eyes he twisted his will just right again and a fireball, about three inches in diameter, hovered between his hands. It lasted over ten seconds before winking out of existence.

When Cody looked up, sweat coating his forehead, Doubtless nodded to him. "Your magic needs more practice, but excellent job."

"Practice?" Cody asked, discouraged.

Doubtful smiled warmly at him and answered, "Magic has sometimes been related to a muscle, or even a separate being within you. If you use it often and stretch it to the limits its strength will expand a bit. A bit, mind you. For the most part magic comes with character, and as you learn more of yourself you learn more of your magic. You may rest until I call Inferno and Destiny to join us. Perhaps we may make some progress with them today."

"Perhaps? Won't Inferno at least be similar to myself?" Cody wondered aloud.

Doubtful thought for a moment to get his thoughts in order before responding, "Dragons are different from humans; they cannot use magic as you can. It is natural for them, but it is so much more powerful in dragons, so naturally it's much harder to reach. I estimate that with a week of frequent practicing they will both be breathing fire and at least have an understanding of the basics. Now go and rest, your magic has taxed your strength more than you realize."

~

Cody woke slowly the next morning, his head fuzzy and muddled with confusion for several minutes as his strength returned along with his consciousness. His hands were folded over his breast in a strangely formal pattern. Soon his mind took on a placid tone and he observed everything he could from where he was. He was in the room he normally slept in, but Omen and Aval were not in it with him for whatever reason. He looked through his mind and felt that Inferno was out and about and focused on something so that his mind was mostly closed off. Cody could have gotten his attention but he didn't need to, nor would he want to disturb the dragon.

Feeling relaxed, the rider slowly sat up on his bed and held his hands out in front of him. Slowly he remembered that he was a rider, and as he reveled in the term the elation and magical energy returned to his limbs. With a steady flow of the energy he brought a fireball to his fingertips and, though it started out small, he was able to make it grow for several seconds before it was gone. He tried once more but this time, as the ball appeared between his hands, he felt the energy flow more steadily and in more abundance than before. He pulled his hands apart and focused on what he expected the fireball to do. In a few seconds he formed a spear of fire, though it soon vanished into thin air once again.

After a couple minutes of testing the magic and getting little more for results, he remembered that he was supposed to begin weapons training with Fearless. Noting that it was perhaps a half-hour after he was supposed to be there, he belted his sword, slung his bow and quiver of arrows over his shoulder, put on his helmet, and emerged from the room into the tunnel. He began walking towards the main hall when he suddenly heard noises from a door a bit further along the tunnel.

Moving as stealthily as he could and hoping to surprise the group, he drew his sword and edged down the tunnel. He soon emerged into a large, circular room with little decoration, and seemingly no occupants.

Out of nowhere Cody felt something collide with his helmet and the ring of the metal was the only thing he could concentrate on as he collapsed on the ground. Not wanting to be outdone, Cody grabbed his sword and lunged in the direction of the attack blindly, ending up with nothing but empty air parting before his sword.

A snicker made him whirl around so that he could see Fearless, twirling his dagger with a large smile on his face. Wordlessly Cody struck again, directly at his mentor's chest. The lunge earned him only the clang of metal as Fearless parried the sword. The brutally outmatched fight carried on for several minutes; all peace and tranquility completely driven from Cody's mind, before another quick blow to the head brought him down to the ground and ended the fight.

"You are too focused on other matters; perhaps dreams or memories or even something else in the room. At the same time, you must be aware of what is around you so you will not be taken by surprise. As I'm sure you did not notice; it was not I that hit you the first time, but Aval," Fearless explained as he stepped towards Cody and offered his hand.

The rider moodily accepted and stood, sheathing his sword and removing his helmet so that he could see more clearly. Avalsmokes and Omen were sitting against the far wall looking somewhat weary and disappointed, which didn't exactly raise Cody's spirits. Fearless looked at the two men for a moment before gesturing for Omen to join, and so he did.

Fearless turned to Cody, buckled on a cuirass for him, and explained, "Now, I want you to try to land a blow on Omen's chest or sides. Don't worry, he has protection, but I'm more worried about you. That axe is slow and heavy so it should be a bit easier to predict its pattern and avoid if you're quick enough, but you need to concentrate on Omen and his axe. If that thing hits you, even in armor, you'll be feeling it tomorrow."

Cody gulped and drew his sword once more, bringing it up in his usual fighting stance. Omen remained mostly still, holding the axe by his side in what seemed to be a pretty exposed position. Using every ounce of speed he could muster he lashed at Omen's chest. In mere seconds however, Cody was caught off guard by the axe swinging straight for his chest. He dove out of the way just in time.

Cody settled back into his fighting stance and eyed the axe more warily than before. Keeping an eye on the weapon he struck again, this time easily ducking under the axe as Omen swung and he managed to slam his sword against Omen's breastplate. He was instantly aware of how strange the axe was in Omen's arms. Though he had been a blacksmith, the months of imprisonment and relaxing had clearly taken a toll on his muscles. He felt bad for his friend, but in time Cody knew that he would be able to wield the axe better, and by practicing using it in fights he would get faster and more precise with his swings.

Fearless approached Cody again and nodded before saying, "That was good. Did you see how much better you did when you watched for signs of danger? Still, you must think several moves ahead when you fight. If you were in battle and jumped in like that, a superior opponent could have sliced you in half as soon as you had made your lunge. You may have been able to kill him if he did not have armor, but that second axe swing would have ended you as well. Come, I will show you."