Chapter 7 Fire and Mind

*Sandpit 2111 Clay’s Bar

I was happy, the happiest I had been in my life so far. Here I was, washing a plate, INDOORS! I’ve been eating well for the last couple years, it’s making me feel strong, the strongest I’ve ever felt. Deakon hasn’t even had to defend me for a while now. Mostly because I’ve been staying hidden here, Thanks to Clay. We’ve gotten along pretty well since I opened up to him. He’s almost as nice as Deakon, but maybe I think that because he isn’t yelling at me or hitting me. Maybe he’s just to fat to throw a punch….

“That’s not very nice”

I know that’s not very nice, I shouldn’t have thought that. Wait, that wasn’t my thought.

I paused, completely still, looking at the wet plate in my hand through the googles in my suit, my bare purple hands exposed. I waited to see if my brain said it again.

“Come see me, I want to talk to you, about you, and your companion” I heard it again, that’s not my voice, but it’s my thought? I looked around the kitchen, I was completely alone, and now a little afraid. Clay was out in the bar welcoming an old friend, Deakon had taken some food and bottles out to deliver, I was alone.

“Don’t be afraid, I can feel it, and you don’t need to be afraid” the voice said again, and after a pause it continued “I know you are here, I can feel you, I felt you as soon as we set down outside the city. Your hidden power radiates for a long distance for those can sense it. Come to me, it will be okay”

I dropped the plate, a little more afraid, and suddenly did not want to be alone. I grabbed the gloves to my suit and slipped them on, clipping them to the rest of the suit. I started walking into the bar out of the kitchen. I stopped near the door, I was scared, but for some reason I could not resist this urge to go and find the voice. Clay had put a mirror there for me to double check before serving customers, I made sure my suit was all done up, covering every inch, no purple scales exposed, and after the safety check, I walked into bar.

“Ah there you are. You’re quite small, I wasn’t expecting that” the voice said, overcoming the murmuring of the patrons of the bar. Clay and his friend laughed in the corner. I couldn’t help but think this was crazy, why am I hearing thi- “You’re not really hearing anything, Exodus.” the voice said. It knew my name now, and I was very freaked out “Look at me, I’m harmless, I’m not going to hurt you, I just need to know if you’re who I’m looking for” Look at me? Who am I looking at? My mind Is playin- “a little to your left, the dragon in the hood, look closely, the gold dragon” that’s when I finally noticed him, in the dark booth, alone, eating a meal. Only his hand and snout were visible from under his clothing and hood, and yes, both of which were gold in color. “Yes that’s right, here I am, come talk to me, purple one”

I panicked, no one was supposed to know that, I started checking my outfit, obviously he knew, but how was he projecting his voice as he ate?

“Come over, let me see you with my eyes, I need to give you a good look over to see if you are who I’ve been seeking” I was again overwhelmed by a strong feeling to just do as the voice was telling me. I was scared but not so much so I wasn’t thinking straight. “You really don’t need to be afraid, I can still feel it” Telling me not to be afraid was not going to make me less afraid. “I suppose you’re right, but you’ll soon see I’m right” Hesitantly, I walked over to the booth and slid my small frame into the seats across the tablet from this strange dragon, lowering a spoon to the bowl and lifting it back to his mouth, taking in one of Clay’s less popular food items. He didn’t look up, or even really acknowledge physically I was there. “I think maybe you are the one I’ve been looking for, or you wouldn’t have come out here, you won’t have come and sat down, you’d have heard nothing. You would still be washing dishes in the back. Working just to stay alive”

“At least Clay is nice to me” I spoke to his defense, I felt as if he was about to say something bad.

“He has a good heart yes, and is doing what he can to get by, just as we all are. It was kind of him to take you and your companion in. Thinking of whom, where is he? Your companion, I was sure you would not be alone” The voice in my head that wasn’t mine was now frightening me further. What does this have to do with Deakon, what does he want with us? He should be back soon, maybe he can save me from, whatever this is! “Ahh yes, Deakon, thank you for his name. I could feel him close to your heart, the rumblings of something strong have started, a good bond of friendship can be very powerful for you both.” Suddenly the Gold dragon put down his spoon, grabbed his hood and pulled it back, looking me in the eyes. I was lost in them, as if I was staring into the universe itself, as if this dragon had lived a million lifetimes. Finally the voice spoke again, this time it was real, it came from his mouth, a little relieved when I could hear the words in the real world again.

“You can safely remove the hood and mask, Exodus, please, let me look at you” But as his words left his mouth something else felt different, surreal. I felt as if we were somehow alone in the bar. It eerily silent but as I looked around the bar nothing had changed. Dragons were still talking among each other, carrying on, busy as normal. There were even a couple non dragons around tonight, seemingly in the city to trade or get whatever they needed from dragons. It should be loud, but instead of the constant noise of talking and music it was perfectly silent. I looked back a the gold dragon.

“I can’t take anything off, people will know I’m purple, Clay would never let me inside again, someone might even hurt me-”

“You need to learn to trust me, and in time you will. I know you’re good at staying hidden, you’ve done it before, Exodus, without even realizing it. But trust me now, trust me when I saw no one can perceive you right now, no one will even see that you are here, let alone that a purple scaled dragon sits among them.” For a reason I could never explain, I did in this moment trust him. I started with my googles, lifting them over my head and off my horns, placing them on the table in front of me. Then as I kept eye contact I pulled back my hood. Last I removed the respirator mask from my muzzle and the cloth mask we bad that goes behind it. I was exposed now, one purple dragon staring this gold on in the face. He studied me in return, the smile on his face growing stronger. “It has been many years since I have felt the true and raw power that someone like you contains.” He studied me for a moment longer “Now, that I have you, I need to ask about your companion again, Deakon”

“What about him? You haven’t even told me who you are. Information for information now, I’ll tell you what you want to know, if you start answering my questions as well!” I was being a little demanding, but in my fearful state I needed some answers myself. He nodded in agreement. “How am I exposed and no one has saw me?”

“Your personality is quite a bit stronger than I anticipated, you’ve had a rough life so far, so I guess it’s understandable. I have some abilities, Exodus. Our kind has a natural affinity to be attuned with the energy around us, but these abilities have been lost in time. We are both going unseen by the others right now by my own control and design. My turn now. I have an odd question, your friend Deakon, does he play with fire?”

“Like some sort of pyromaniac? No he’s normal. Well as normal as I think we can be.” I looked up into his eyes again, there was a sense of seriousness that was not there before. “My turn now, who are you?”

“I’m Glavous.” He paused and looked deeply into my eyes. “Hasn’t anything strange ever happened to you, Exodus, things you can’t explain, time when things just went your way with people when they really shouldn’t have? Times when you went unnoticed despite being in plain sight?”

“Yes” I was feeling even more uncomfortable now, flashbacks of hiding from bullies popping into my head.

“There, yes, that wasn’t chance, that was you, instinctively using the power in yourself” His smile now gone, he wasn’t being friendly anymore, it felt more like he was going to show me something, but before he could go any further I needed to know some more to trust him.

“What do you want with us?” I demanded.

“I merely want to show you two are capable of. After that I may make an offer to help you both expand on your talents over time” He explained, kindness began coming over his face again.

“What kind of offer?”

“No, Exodus, it’s my turn now remember?” His point had be sink back into my seat a little, he was right “Now, do you think you can call out to Deakon?”

“I can’t, no, neither of us can afford our own devices to communicate wi-”

“No, not with technology, you can call him the same way I called out to you to bring you to me” as I looked into his face I had noticed the spikes on this snout, chin, and cheeks had darkened slightly, normally a sign that I had annoyed or angered the other dragon slightly, but they weren’t really darker, that had taken on a slight hue of purple “I can help you this once, just to learn, so that I can show you how to do this. Now, give me your hand, your bare hand”

I removed my left glove, and extended my purple hand across the table, both of his gold hands reached out back, sandwiching my own. I had a sudden realization of how naive I was possibly being, this might have been some strange trick to rob me, but I’m broke. Maybe a weird way of luring me outside so that others can “take care of me”. I looked around the bar, partially for possible help, and no one had taken any notice of still.

“No, Exodus, I am not going to hurt you in any way, you can rest those thoughts.” He said calmly. To anyone else I think this would have ended long before it got this far. He closed his eyes, that small act helping me trust him a little more. “Now, think of Deakon, picture him in your mind” I closed my eyes and did as he requested, my heart fluttered a little bit as the image of Deakon came to my vision. “There! Yes Exodus, there is a strong connection with him, that will make the next part easier for us” My concentration broke, the image was gone, I opened my eyes and looked at him with concern.

“What is going to happen next? What are you trying to make me do to him?”

“Exodus, it’s okay, we’re just going to call to him just as I called to you, but you are weaker than I, your message will only appear to him like and idea or worry, depending on what you tell him. I need you to trust me for this to work”

“I think you’ll find my trust is hard to gain”

“I know I can with time, and if you give me the chance” Without opening his eyes he gripped my hands to being my attention back, I closed my eyes and began to concentrate again. “Now, we can try again, picture him, and embrace the connection you have made with him” His words stopped flowing into my ears and coming from my mind again. “Yes, I see it, I already feel it, you’re connected so naturally with him. Now, think of what you would want to say that could make him come back, think of that and speak it in your mind to that image of him, I am helping you now, this will work, just tell him what you need to tell him”

“Deakon, I need you back, I don’t feel safe, something weird is happening, I’m afraid, Deakon, I need you as soon as you can get back” I felt silly, but the message was truthful, I was still quite uncomfortable with this gold dragon I had just met playing mind tricks with me. I opened my eyes and looked at Glavous, his eyes were still closed but slight disappointment was over his face, obviously he heard the whole thing in my mind, and the thoughts afterwards. I glanced down at the cup beside his soup, one of our very well polished metal ones. In the distorted rounded reflection I noticed something strange. I broke contact with him and picked up the cup and brought it closer to my face, confirming the concerning image I thought I saw. The spikes on my snout, chin, and cheeks had changed color, now a deep purple nearly matching the rest of my scales.

“What have you done?!?! what happened to my face?!?” I panicked

“Relax, Exodus, this is a good sign, this means it worked!” he opened his eyes, the disappointed look gone and replaced with a little pride “When an elemental master uses their abilities, their spikes will change color to that color associated with that element. It will be gone in a moment” I looked in my distorted reflection in the cup, and he was right, they were already turning lighter and back to normal. “I feel as he might have been nearby, but it’s hard to tell with your strong link to him. I think the fire will be here any minute now”

“Okay, Elemental master? The Fire? I am starting to think you’re just some weird-” As if to prove a point at that second the front doors into the club swung open and Deakon came through, looked around the bar, and ran into the back. “See? You’re a nutcase, he wasn’t even looking for me! I should go check on him.” I reached for my gloves and other gear to put on but Glavous places his hand over mine. “I need to cover back up before someone notices me!”

“He can’t see us here, remember? No one can. I’ve put a veil over this booth, light is reflecting over us right now, we are here, but nobody is perceiving us, just like your bullies, just like the soldiers, just like when you hid away behind Deakon on the prison ship” His explanation wasn’t really cutting it, but how could he know all this? “I will lift it now, just for him, he will be the only one who will see us”

“This is crazy, I better get back to work before someone catches me out of the-”

“Exodus!” Deakon ran up the to table, whispering to keep attention away “What are you doing? Someone is going to see you and Clay will be pretty pissed off!” He started fumbling over my gear on the table, trying to help me slip it back on. “I had this funny feeling something was up, you needed me or something so I hurried back and you’re out here and exposed, what happened?”

“Your friend Deakon has a pretty strong willed, even if he is hard set only for your safety now” Glavous spoke and Deakon noticed him now, he froze for a second, not knowing what to do, surprised at the gold dragon, and worried about him seeing me openly. Glavous gestured into the booth beside me. “Please, Deakon, have a seat with us” As Deakon slid into the booth with us, Glavous reached to his hip, the sound of rustling came as he pulled something from one of the satchels around his waist. I moment of fear came over me, not knowing what he was pulling out, but I was relieved when his hand appeared again, holding a simple low flat candle. “I would appreciate it if you would light this for us, this booth is a little dark and it would be night to have some more light for this conversation” as he sat it down in front of Deakon.

“I haven’t got anything I to light this with. Sorry, who are you?” he asked, greatly confused

“I’m Glavous, nice to meet you. And as for this candle, you don’t need anything to light it, you are all that you need for this task”

“What are you talking about?” Deakon asked. Glavous picked up the candle and brought it to his mouth, as he did so his face spikes turned a faint orange, and almost seemed to glow. Then just as effortlessly as someone would blow out a candle, he blew a little puff and a flame came from his mouth and lit it. He looked past the candle at Deakon, who did not look impressed, then puffed the candle out and placed it on the table.

“Now, it’s your turn”

“That was a nice little parlor trick, but you’re going to have to teach me.” He said, a little defiantly and seemingly now a little annoyed.

“Sure, but a little handshake to get aquatinted first, a little Earth tradition” He smiled and extended his right hand to Deakon. Surprised of his knowledge of Earth, Deakon apprehensively reached out to shake the gold dragon’s hand. But as soon as their hands made contact I saw Glavous’ face spikes change again a hint of the purple from before. Deakon stopped moving for a moment. I’m smart, but very new to what was going on, but I’m 100 percent positive Glavous just put an idea in Deakon’s head, I could FEEL something between them. After the handshake, Deakon changed to a much more serious demeanor. To my surprised Deakon silently sat back down and picked up the candle. He picked it up and gently blew on it. Nothing happened…

“Deakon, what just happened, what did he show you?”

“Just images, dragons like us, but breathing fire, and making fireballs form their hands, a flaming sword, dragons who had some sort of control over fire” he sat stunned still, as if still processing the information, he needed another moment.

“I call it opening the third eye, Exodus” Glavous started to explain while Deakon seemed blank for a moment “There’s no actual third eye obviously, but rather what I call it when someone is aware of our elemental abilities. You were hatched with yours open, but the rest of us have to learn. I simply SHOW them what is possible, it’s up to them, or him in this case, to process it, and decide if he can do it” As we talked, Deakon picked up the candle and tried to blow again, the spikes on his face to my surprised changed to a very faint glow of range like Glavous’s did. He blew, but again nothing happened, but he stared at the candle, almost as if having himself in a trance. All on his own he seemed to be close, I could almost feel it.

“Deakon” Glavous also sounded very intent now, like this was a defining moment, and it would be “picture the flame, and give the energy from within you”

Deakon paused, seemed to concentrate even more, his face spikes now obviously orange, and he blew again. Yet again there was no flame.

“Deakon, you’re close! Look at your face!” I picked up the same shiny cup I had seem myself in and showed it to him. “Orange, just like his was a few moments ago! You’re doing something, it’s so close I can feel it too”

Glavous sighed, worry appeared on his face, very subtle but it was there. Deakon took a short breath in. His face spikes now glowed strongly, and when he exhaled a small flame came from his lips. Surprising himself he missed the candle and dropped it onto the table.

“Whoa” was all he could mutter, his face spikes were already fading back normal when he picked it back up without being told again. I glanced at Glavous and realized he had started to smile. I looked back at Deakon as his face spikes changed quickly and were now obviously glowing strong. That last time he had it figured out, and he blew one more time. A flame flew forth from his lips, lighting the candle, which he slowly placed on the table as his face changed back to normal.

“Exodus” I turned my head to meet Glavous’ gaze “how did you know I showed him anything?”

“Your face spikes changed just as they did before, I know you did something” I put my hand behind my head sheepishly “I think I also felt it too”

Glavous raised an eyebrow “You have the potential to be very powerful” but as he turned to Deakon “I worry that you may be a challenge to train. But I’m willing to try” He picked up his mug and swallowed the rest of his drink. I noticed his bowl had also now been empty, and it made me wonder, how much he actually talked. He leaned back, his wings pressed against the back of the booth, “Now, for the offer I mentioned. Come with me, I will train you to use these abilities, and show you how to achieve greatness, and guide you to use them for the progress of our people. I know this is completely out of the wild, so take tonight to consider a decision. I’m traveling with dragon named Duke. He’s simply put, a recycler of sorts. Hes the loud one who’s been talking Clay’s ear off all night. But he travels a lot and that helps me search. We are on the planet for another day, as he’s waiting for some parts to be worked on, and leave tomorrow night.”

This offer was deep, but I didn’t know what he meant by the “use them for the progress of our people” I looked at Deakon, who was still shocked that he just learned how to breath fire. I thought hard for a moment, Glavous could sense how deep in thought I was. We had started building a life here, but aside from saying goodbye to Clay there wasn’t much to stay for here either. I for one, was already willing to go, but Deakon, would need more time to decide, and I was staying with him no matter his decision.

“We will decide by morning” I responded

“Great, I’ll come by shortly after sunrise to hear your choice” He looked into the bar then turned his head back to me “I will wait until you’ve disguised yourself again to lift the veil that has us hidden”

The odd comfort of not having things mask my face became apparent knowing that it was about to end, but there was one more question I had.

“Glavous, you seem to know more than most people. Have you seen others like me? Why are we considered bad luck? Am I some sort of demon?”

He sighed, but realized the answer might help sway my choice. Deakon sort of popped back to reality hearing me ask this dark question and started to speak before Glavous put his hand to interrupt and to explain. “Exodus, yes, your purple scales are a result of your power. Science taught dragons that our color morphs are simply a genetic dice roll. You are one in a million, very rare, but not unheard of. I believe they are a result of the universe choosing where the energy is needed. I have worked with other purple dragons over the millennia, and masters of the mind, which is your power, can do some very dark and sordid things. Some users of that ability has given some people much to fear unfortunately.” His words shook me to the core, that perhaps the other dragons were right, but then he took another moment to comfort me “But the ones I have worked with over time, are anything but evil or bad luck, in fact they are often the opposite. Exodus they are always like you, passionate, emotional and look at the positives even in the darkest of times. There is NOTHING evil or wrong about you, the last word I would ever use to describe you or any of the others I’ve trained would be a demon!” He looked at me in the eyes and somehow his gaze brought some comfort, but knowing others had and maybe still do exist like me brought a moment of peace within me. “Now, even for someone like me, holding a veil over such a large crowd for such a large time while also teaching others to use abilities is in fact very tiring”

I nodded and started putting back on my masks. Deakon helped with my gloves and as soon as I was hidden again, the noise of the bar returned, breaking the silence almost violently as I remember this entire interaction did occur in a busy place. Glavous stood up, raising his hood as he got up, seemingly not wanting attention on himself. A golden yellow dragon like him was uncommon but not unheard of, I was unsure why he would want to hide.

As he left we returned to our duties in the kitchen, our absence was unnoticed at least by Clay, but a small pile of plates and cups had formed for me next to the sink somehow. Deakon helped me wash some, still sort of processing things himself, he had no idea he was capable of such things. My own processing was different, I realized through the last hour of events that maybe there was some part of me that already knew. I remembered things, events that made no sense at the time, but make perfect sense now. An Earth ice cream cone came to mind, the good ones, and the free one I got. What bothered me more was the stories at the end, that other purple ones like me had existed before, and how some were maybe not as nice as I was.

The rest of the evening went as normal, washing plates and Deakon serving up drinks, having become something of a bartender of the last couple years. I think it was good for him, his personality and people skills had become very serving. He listened to stories that bored him, but entertained the guests to tell, helped Clay remove the trouble makers, and knew how to entertain a little as he made drinks now too. He had become something of a people person. But the rest of the night he was mostly quiet.

After Clay closed the place we found ourselves in the back alley as usual. Even after 2 years we slept outside. Clay had offered several times to let us sleep in the bar, and did during the rainy season, we even frequently used his shower now, we did essentially lived here but still chose to sleep the heat of the day away outside, staying up all night, still going to the desert every morning at sunrise to fly. Some things simply didn’t change. But they were going to end.

I looked at Deakon, he was obsessing over making a flame, and piece of broken wood from a crate in his hand as he kept concentrating to breath fire again, but was struggling to do it a second time. I lifted my goggles from my eyes and took off the masks.

“Deakon” I paused “I’m going to go with him, I’m going to go with Glavous. I know he’s a stranger but I think he can help me know about who I am, why I’m like this” He stopped with the wood and fire attempts for a moment and glared at me, nearly angry looking.

“You’re Exodus, you’re my friend, and that’s all I’ll never need to know” He said quite seriously, but then relaxing a little “I sort of thought you would, and if you’re going, then so am I!” I ran into his chest and wrapped my arms around his waist hugging him as tight as I could. He hugged back tightly and kind of choked “You didn’t think I’d just leave you that quick did you? Besides, I haven’t seen anyone breath fire before, I want to learn too. The things he showed me, I want to learn to do that, I feel like it’s…. it’s my purpose”

“Yes! Deakon we’re going to do great things now! I just know it, and my intuition-”

“-is never wrong” he smiled down and released me from our hug “Yes, yes I know”

As if on cue, Clay pushed open the back down and stepped out with a large bag of trash and a cigar hanging form his mouth. He launched the bag into the larger bin and sat on his usual crate. He started patting himself for matches or his fire but realized he had left them inside. Deakon noticed and I saw him inhale, his face spikes turned orange and when he exhaled a small fire came form his lips setting the piece of wood on fire. It seems that maybe having a purpose better than practice helped. Clay witnessed this and the cigar dropped from his mouth. I picked it up for him and handed it to him, staring at Deakon and without looking at me picked it from my hand and put it back in his mouth. “What, the, fuck?”

“It’s okay Clay, you don’t need to get your matches now” Deakon said and leaned towards him helping him light the cigar with the burning wood. Clay sucked a few puffs to get it going then leaned back as Deakon shook the wood to extinguish the flame.

“Look, Clay, we need to talk” I said suddenly, he popped back to reality.

“You’re leaving aren’t you?” he immediately guessed

“Yeah” Deakon piped up “I’m so sorry to leave you with such short notice, you’ve helped us so much and I really don’t like how sudden this is” Deakon looked down.

“You’re okay, both of you, and as far as replacing you” He chuckled “There’s lots more street rats like you two I can give chance to, now that I know how” He paused, before saying one of the deepest things I ever heard him say “Think of it as giving a new chance to some other okay? I’m curious though, what’s going on?”

“We’re going with someone named Glavous” I said

“Oh! He travels with Duke!”

“Duke? That guy you hung out with all last night?” Deakon asked

“Yea! The old gold guy, he’s a bit eccentric but I don’t think he’d ever mean anyone harm. Listen, if ever does anything just go to Du-”

“I’m not worried about that” I butted in “Like we said, I think we were worried about leaving you high and dry, but you don’t seem concerned, but before we go, I do want to thank you as well, for letting even a purple dragon in, even though I was hidden”

“Hey, Exodus, you really changed my thinking on that topic, I kind of hope if I ever meet one again they are as honest and hardworking and pure as you!” He was nearly blushing, but I could the goodbyes were maybe getting to him, he definitely had his eyes watering, but maybe that was the smoke form his own cigar. Something came over me, and for the first and only time I leaned and and hug this wonderful chubby bar owner, and he put his thick strong arm around me and pulled me in and hugged back. He gestured to Deakon who leaned in and hugged him on the other side. “You two are going to be just fine, and if you’re around Duke, this isn’t goodbye at all, we’re see each other again, he loves the lightning festival!”

His words made me all warm and fuzzy inside, we all let go of the hug, and kept talking through the night, remembering the last two years fondly, made plans for when we saw each other again, and promised us there was always a warm plate of food for us here. Deakon kept setting fire to the piece of wood on and off throughout the night as we talked, Clay still amazed at the trick. The sun eventually rose, but for the first time, we didn’t make our way to the desert to practice our flying, we stayed, waiting for Glavous to come collect us. As if he somehow knew we’d be in the back he walked up the alley.

“So, what have you decided? Shall I call you students, or passers by in the night of life?”

“We’re coming with you!” I said “We both want to learn what you have to teach us” And Glavous nodded in approval.

“Have you said your goodbyes to your friend?”

“Yeah!” Clay spoke up “Now, I trust Duke, but you need to take good care of my two street rats here, I better see them again in good condition”

Glavous laughed at him “Next time you see them, you’ll be shocked and who they’ve become” He paused and put his hand on Clay’s shoulder “And thank you for finding and taking care of my Champions” he said cryptically. “Thanks and goodbye, until we see you again”

He gestured for us to follow, we walked poetically back down the alley towards the rising sun, on to the next chapter of our lives.