Old Promises, New Mysteries: Book 2 of The Kinstone series

Once October rolled around, it was growing closer to when my birthday also was drawing near. I smiled, half wondering how we were going to celebrate it.

Rachel and I hadn’t really discussed it, so I took it as a sign that she was planning something. She and I still conducted our lessons together but as the month turned, we switched to only having the classes three days a week rather than the typical four.

I giggled as I thought this was a sign that I was pushing ahead beyond what Rachel was able to plan out for us. In reality I believe it had to do with the fact that my birthday was in fact around the corner. So she didn’t want to push me too hard. Even still, I didn’t lapse.

I kept myself busy with other things. With the extra time afforded to me, I took the opportunity to spend more time with Silvi. She and I would spend a couple days back to back training together.

While swimming in the water as a mermaid filled me with childish wonder, obtaining a peaceful serenity as an alraune, the majesty of feeling wind and water swirling at my command as a ryujin, or even my beloved cherished grace as a kitsune could never fully compare to raw unbridled pleasure as flying through the skies as a dragon.

Power and strength poured through my body as I soared on the winds, my wings flapping in the air as they caught the subtle changes in the currents. A gleeful grin never ceased to curl on my lips as my fangs glistened in the light.

In terms of physical strength, my dragon form was my greatest. Silvi had made it a point to help increase my strength with the obvious exercise of lifting boulders. As time went by, we then shifted to playing catch with boulders.

My sister and I would lob the boulders at each other, slowly going faster and faster. This helped not only with my weight training, but with honing my ability to control my strength.

We kept this up for months until the day I accidentally let go of a boulder and it was sent careening into several trees. Rachel was furious once she found out it, demanding that I help the dryads regrow the trees. After that, Silvi and I would attempt to find other means in order to help us train.

Whenever I would fly off to see my sister, I enjoyed the pleasure of leaping from my balcony in my dragon form, and racing back into the sky. I loved to take my time, wanting to savor my time in the air.

I giggled whenever I would see Fenris running on the ground, easily being able to. I would fly down to near ground level and the two of us would race with the other. A stupid grin often rose on my face as I sped up. Fenris countered by increasing his own speed, often leaping into the air only to use me as a springboard. This was a dirty trick as it caused me to crash into the ground.

If I were human this would more than likely kill me, but as a dragon, if merely was an irritation. When not racing, I loved to do various flips and spin in the air. It was a real rush to watch the world spin and somersault. I could tell why stunt pilots love to fly. My control of my wings had grown immensely since I first started flying.

In the beginning, I struggled with doing simple turns. Even the act of adjusting for gusts of wind took me awhile to get used to. In time I began to slowly master to ability to fly, with it becoming one of the many ways I got around the Estate.

Seeing the Estate from the sky was still a wonder to behold no matter how many times I do it. Just flying around in the air unrestricted is still something I have never gotten over. Over time my stamina has increased dramatically to the point where I could hover for well over an hour and not become tired.

This did however have the drawback of having incredibly sore shoulders at the end of the day, which steadily lessened after I started living on the Estate. I found hovering in midair to be very meditative. I would center myself in the air, almost feeling like I was standing still.

I close my eyes and simply breathe, letting the wind blow past me, carrying any doubts or concerns away. This however, would break once a strong enough gust of wind knocked off balance. I’d giggle and move on.

When I arrive at Silvi’s cave, I’d often see my sister sitting outside, waiting for me. I smiled as I landed, easily descending through the opening in the trees. She would fly up and greet me, often catching me in midair. She then carried me once more back into the sky and hug me tightly her.

Compared to my sister, I was extremely tiny and small. The joke was that whenever she held me, whatever form I would assumed, it appeared as though she were holding a doll. She stood easily over six and a half feet tall and with me only at four foot nine or ten. It was easy to make that conclusion.

We’d spin through the air, with her then twirling us at near breakneck speeds, which often almost made me throw up. This was something my sister drew a slight perverse pleasure from.

We then would break and begin to spar with the other in mid-flight. A broad grin adorned both our faces as kicks and punches sailed past the other. We chased each other through the air, occasionally landing blows on the other. Silvi and I then would spout fire at the other, barely missing at times. Even when our flames would make contact, we weren’t injured in the slightest.

Despite dragons appearing to have what many would believe to be bare skin meshing against scales is in truth thin scales that gave the illusion of bare flesh. It was still soft to the touch, but no less protective. Even the “hair” is just as protective, being both fireproof and nearly as tough as the scales that grew on their bodies.

A common prank between Silvi and I was to blast each other with little balls of fire to the face. At first I felt like I was getting punched each time, but faded as I slowly became used to it. Now it felt like a playful slap upside the back of the head.

This “play” served as my training. At first, when my sister began my combat training, it was no different than studying in a dojo. Over time this slightly changed, but the two of us still practiced as the former.

I grew more adept at being a dragon. The strength, the power, the grace; all had been honed and polished over the past six months.

My sister had long since instilled an immense sense of pride that came with being a dragon. While dragons in multiple stories have been shown to be greedy, murderous fiends, mostly in western tales, and in far eastern legends they often are portrayed as guardians.

In reality…okay yes, in most cases this is true. But it is also true that dragons are creatures who possess a code of honor and pride in which they will protect those they consider family.

It was this pride which helped boil my blood when Beltrok Velkoz and his children came calling a year ago, insulting and threatening my family. To this day, I am forever grateful for the training my sister gave me. My body was prepared for when I dueled with Irina, the vampire’s daughter.

Even being in human form during the match, my body was hardened and my instincts still were ever present. If it hadn’t been for all of the hours of practice and near backbreaking work, it could’ve been possible that I would’ve lost the duel. And yet I prevailed, battered and bloodied, but still victorious.

About a week or so before my birthday, I flew out to go see Silvi. The weather had been absolutely perfect for flying and my heart felt a longing for the skies. Since I didn’t have a class with Rachel, I snatched the opportunity to get some fresh air.

As I stepped out onto my balcony, I took a long deep breath, feeling the air rushing into my lungs. A smile rose on my face I exhaled, letting a large blue flame.

I blushed and giggled, having accidentally mixed my kitsune-bi with my dragon flame. It was a trick that I learned during the summer in which I could access certain attributes from the other races I could transform into.

While I still very much needed the necklace to transform into the other four, I could at the very least, utilized aspects of those forms, in a very limited fashion. It’s not like I could partially transform into any of the other forms, more like assuming little nuances from them. Such as the grace of the mermaid while swimming or the ability to connect to plants as an alraune. I still hadn’t fully mastered how to use this ability, but I was learning.

I rubbed my mouth, coughing up a puff of flame. I smiled softly, looking to my right, seeing Fenris beside me, his eyes level with my own. I lifted my hand and ran my fingers through his soft dark fur, scratching deeply, gently scraping my nails against his skin.

A soft grumble rose from the wolf, his eyes shutting softly as he lowered his head in pleasure. I grinned, catching the sight of his tails wagging from side to side. My head shook, thinking of how much of a dog he acted as.

I leaned in and wrapped my arms around his neck, resting my head onto his fur. I felt him lowering his head onto my shoulder, gently brushing the side of my cheek. I giggled softly looking to him.

The wolf had grown to view me as his daughter, hence the nickname, “Papa Wolf”. I reciprocated the feeling to some extent. But despite his often mature and fatherly exterior, Fenris often loved acting like a dog.

He loved resting on my bed, wagging his tails when I would pet him, even panting heavily at times when he became excited. Hell, the wolf even loves to roll onto his back and have his belly rubbed. I giggled every time I saw him do this. I still would crawl over him and read books or to simply play around with him.

My attention then was drawn to the distant sight of something flying through the air. A red clad figure hovered softly in the air, it wings flapping ever few seconds. I smiled, knowing that it was sister, beckoning me to come join her. I looked to Fenris, who gave me a soft nod. I smiled, kissing his nose as I stepped back.

I pulled a string from behind my back. The sound of a zipper rolling down sounded as it came down my shirt. I held up my necklace and thumbed the crystal held within.

I smiled as a torrent of power surged through my body. Icy-blue scales covered my arms and legs, with the lower portions swelling in size, becoming like gauntlets and armor, and feet and hands changing shape. Wings sprouted from my shoulders as a tail emerged from my rear. Horns slowly grew out of my head as my ears enlarged, becoming like fins.

The wind blew against me as I saw my hair change from dark blonde to near pure silver. My body felt strong and powerful as I stretched my body. My claws tapped the stone flooring of the balcony as I flexed them. My wings creaked as they unfurled, feeling the blood rushing into them.

I looked to Fenris and smiled, “Seeya later Fenris.”

The wolf nodded, “Be careful Aria.”

I grinned as I hopped onto the banister and leapt off. My wings flung open to catch the air as I began to flap them hard. I soared upwards into the sky, smiling as I flew on towards my sister.

As I came closer and closer to my sister, Silvi then veered off from hovering over the forest and turned towards the lake. I smirked, moving my tail like a rudder, causing me to turn. I trailed after her, swerving through the trees of the tiny islands that lay in the middle of the lake.

Every flip and somersault she performed I copied. I quickly compared this to dog-fighting, which thrilled me even further. Wind whirled around me as my heart pounded hard within my chest as we sped up even more, pushing ourselves harder and harder.

I grinned as we soared over the water, my wings flapping furiously to keep up with her. I then heard the sound of the gossip off in the distance. The distinctive sounds of mermaid tails splashing on the water echoed softly against the rocky hillside. I slowed down for a moment to see them waving towards me. I smiled, waving in return.

A small fire bolt slammed against my head, feeling no harder than a large snowball. I turned to see my sister grinning, “You’re getting distracted Little Wing. Your “quarry” might slip away from you,” she then flew off back into the sky. I grumbled.

She then dove towards the water, watching her skim the surface of the lake. I smiled as I closed in on her, trying to imitate her. My body floated near the surface of the lake as I flew over the water.

I giggled as the water sprayed around me. I then sped up, feeling the air cool as it passed over the water. I lowered a clawed toe into the water, feeling it slice through the surface.

The sensation of the ice cold water rolling over my toe was incredible, bringing an even greater smile to my face as I then saw Silvi spreading her wings outwards mid-flight, causing her to suddenly slow down.

She then flapped her wings hard, sending her skyward once more, causing a massive eruption of water around her. I smirked as I would attempt the same maneuver.

My sister and I shared a fierce competitiveness with each other, always finding ways of outdoing the other. She would also try and showoff how much greater her experience was compared to mine.

While I knew full well what I could and could not do, I still would fight to catch up to her. Hunting was one such way, another being in our sparring matches. We pushed ourselves harder and harder, trying to find that one opening that we would capitalize on.

As I came upon where she stopped, I opened my wings to slow my speed. But when I moved to go skyward, I failed to notice that I had in fact slowed down too much. So instead of soaring high into the sky, upon flapping my wings, I quickly tumbled into the water, bouncing off of it.

Splashing to a halt, I broke through the surface, coughing and spitting up water. I heard my sister’s laugh roar over the lake as she descended towards me.

“What have I told about trying to copy everything I do before you are ready?” she grinned.

I huffed at her as I floated in the water, my silvery hair clinging tightly to my body. She then leaned over and offered her hand to me.

I reached for it, grinning as I yanked her into the water. She popped back up and bore a fang-filled grin at me, “Sneaky little hatchling.”

She quickly grabbed the top of my head and dunked me into the water. I easily swam free of her and snuck behind her. I giggled as I blasted her with a frozen dragon’s breath, instantly freezing her and the water around her.

Silvi laughed as her body then warmed, melting the ice, “You sure do love that ice-breath of yours don’t you Little Wing?” I giggled, floating in the water. My sister then pulled me close to her, hugging me tightly. “Such fun we have as dragons.” I nodded, looking up at her.

We floated quietly in the water, my sister easily dwarfing me. My heart was still pounding heavily in my chest as our weightless bodies drifted in the water. “Have I ever told how much I love flying with you Little Wing?”

I bobbed my head and grinned up at her, “Every time we do.”

Silvi smiled broadly, stroking my hair with her claws, “Oh…is that so?”

I giggled, “Not going senile on me are you?”

My sister snorted, ruffling my hair, “I’m not that old, little hatchling.” I giggled more, resting my chin onto her chest. She smiled, still holding me close to her, “I still can’t believe that I have a baby sister like you.”

My stomach growled loudly, even causing the water around me to ripple. Silvi laughed, “Well…you really are a dragon through and through if your stomach can roar as loud as you.”

I giggled, “Always am after a flight like that.”

She nodded, “I would agree Little Wing. Care to go hunting for our lunch?” I grinned at her, feeling my blood boiling up once more.

My sister shook her head, “What have I done, turning a sweet and innocent little girl like you into a vicious bloodthirsty predator. I should be locked away for such a crime,” grinning to me.

I laughed, “Yes…you should be.”

Silvi smirked, “Well…let’s get going then. Our stomachs won’t fill themselves now will they?”

I shook my head, “Nope.”

We smiled as our wings then unfurled, and flapped hard, raising our bodies out of the water and back into the air. When we gained some height, the two of us then turned and flew towards the forest.

After snagging a large buck from the forest, we retreated back to Silvi’s cave where she began to cut and clean our meal. A fire flickered brightly in the dark cave, its light danced of my scales as I watched my sister blowing gentle flames onto the meat as she sliced into it with her claw.

My tail wagged softly from side to side as she then placed more of it onto the fire. My mouth watered as smells of the searing meat wafted through the cave. There were a few moments I wanted to just leap up and snatch the meat right off of the fire and gorge on it.

I dug my clawed toes into the soft soil, just to help restrain myself. Silvi smiled as she cooked, giving me a quick glance, seeing my eagerness. “It’s ready Little Wing,” ripping off a hind leg and started to eat it.

I giggled and bounded over, slicing my finger into the ribcage and cutting it off. I smiled as I plopped myself back onto my seat, tearing into freshly cooked meat.

Silvi shook her head and smiled, “It’s funny how you love to jab at me for how I eat and yet here you are, eating exactly as I do.” I grinned and giggled, showing little pieces of meat in between my teeth.

My sister laughed, “Chew your food Little Wing. Be grateful your mother isn’t here to see you eating like you are now.”

I giggled even more, nodding. It was good spending time with my sister, given how much I spent in lessons with my mother. Now granted, we could see each other whenever we wanted to, even just simply flying to each other.

When we finished, Silvi and I took the leftover bones and placed them onto a rack, letting them roast over the fire. A smile rose on my face as I heard them crack as they dried out. We then took the bones off and began to grind them into powder.

After storing it away, Silvi then sat on the cave floor, motioning me to her. I smiled as I walked over to her, crawling into her lap. My sister wrapped her arms around me, hugging my tiny body tightly.

“Have I ever told you much I love you Little Wing?”

I giggled, nodding, “All the time.”

She grinned broadly, “Do I now?” tickling my sides with her claw. I giggled loudly like a small child, squirming in her lap. My sister smiled, holding my body close to her as she leaned back, stroking my hair. “Your birthday is coming up soon, had any thoughts on what you would like to have?”

I laid the back of my head onto her chest, feeling her heart beating strongly. “Not really. To be honest, what could I really ask for? Also…last year y’all simply blew me away with your gifts.”

She smiled softly, running her claws through my hair, “All we want, is for you to be happy Little Wing.”

I turned and curled up into her lap, nodding, “And I am happy Silvi. I’m home with my family.”

Her smile broadened as she leaned over and placed a kiss on the top of my head. I smiled, feeling the heat from her body warming me.

She then gently traced her claw over one of my horns. I blushed and giggled, “Hey…that really tickles.”

She grinned, “It is that so?” stroking them more. I laughed even harder.

Dragon horns, much like the soles of feet, are incredibly sensitive if stroked gently. While they are extremely hard and near unbreakable, horns are no less a target for a certain “devious” older sister.

Silvi smiled as she held me close to her, her clawed hands tenderly stroking my body. “I’ve noticed that you’ve been increasing your training lately. Something to do with those pillars?”

I nodded, “Just adding something new to my abilities.”

She smiled, “You are always finding something new and exciting to play with aren’t you?” I grinned, nodding.

After my discovery of the defensive pylons in the front courtyard the other month, I thought it to be a good idea to learn out to fight using them. At first, I did in fact use the forest, leaping from tree to tree, swinging on the branches at times.

I also began to study parkour, figuring it might give me some insights. I found the sport exhilarating, seeing how Rachel had already trained me in gymnastics after my first arrival to the Estate.

I gained confidence in my ability to run through the forest with ease, flipping and one-stepping branches as I “flew” from tree to tree. As time went on, I found while slowly mastering parkour was fun, especially when I would transform into a kitsune and use my tails to help reach for branches.

Roughly a few hundred yards from the stables, I converted a small patch of field into a quasi-training area. Midway through September I had sixteen large wooden pillars, matching the dimensions of ones I discovered, constructed for me.

I filled it with training weapons and had the pillars planted into the ground, having them spaced exactly as their real counterparts in the courtyard, which I could summon upon command. It was among a couple additions that I had made to the Estate. When summoned, I practiced leaping from pillar to pillar, much like in the forest.

Again, I would wrap my tails around the pillars when I wanted to make quick and sudden changes in direction. Given how close the spacing was, I elected to train with a kodachi bokken. I’d populate the pillars with mud golems, which I used as targets to slice into. I drew a great feeling of satisfaction from my new training regimen.

Silvi smiled, stroking my hair, “Perhaps I should start calling you “Little Warrior” instead of Little Wing.”

I giggled, “I like ‘Little Wing’.”

She grinned, flicking my nose, “As do I.” I grinned at her. My sister shook her head.

She and I spent the next few hours together, half talking with the final half flying and sparring with each other. While we fought, a gleeful smile stretched across our faces with every punch thrown and kick blocked.

Fire spewed from our mouths, often clashing with each other, causing a massive explosion, and knocking us both back. We each burst into a roaring laughter after recovering, flapping our wings to center ourselves. Without a word, we once more flew into each other, resuming our session.

The sky turned from a bright blue to a rich burning amber color as the sun slowly began to set on the hills. I knocked my neck, hearing it pop loudly. My sister smiled as she floated over to me, pulling my body into a tight embrace.

“I think I'm going to call it a day Little Wing, you should as well.” I nodded softly.

My body ached with all of the strain from the day. I grimaced slightly as we held each other. Despite being a dragon, I knew I would have a few dark bruises on my body come the morning. This had been a good day. Any time spent with my sister was good.

Silvi then squeezed me once last time before letting me go. “Have a restful night Little Wing.”

I smiled, nodding to her, “Night sis.”

She smiled, floating back more, her wings beating softly before turning and diving for her cave. I watched quietly as my sister flew off, disappearing into the forest. I spun in the air, soreness quickly filling my wings. Leaning forward, I flapped them, and headed for home.

There was something special to having the skies to myself, even if for a moment. I let my mind wander off, nothing but the open sky and the sound of my wings flapping in the air.

The air was becoming prickly cool, more so than earlier. I knew a cold front was creeping in, which meant rain was soon coming. I sighed, knowing I was glad that at least I was able to get out before it did. The wind buffeted against me, carrying my hair along with it.

My eyes were then drawn downwards towards the forest. The leaves had long since started to change colors. As I soared over the trees, I couldn’t help but smile, imaging that I was flying over a sea of waving reds and golds. The dryads were more than likely already making preparations for the coming winter.

I wondered about going to visit them before the start of winter, when they went into hibernation. Something to pin on the docket I guess. I sighed as I flapped my wings once more, speeding up slightly.

A smile ran across my face as my balcony slowly came into view. I could hear the sounds of the flocks beneath. Again I looked down to see the kobolds tending to the endless scores of sheep. Some waved at me as I flew overhead.

I waved back to them, dipping slightly mid-flight as a sharp pain surge through me, which startled many of them. I quickly recovered, reaching back and rubbed the base of my right wing. I groaned softly, seeing worry on their faces.

I smiled and waved to them, showing that I was fine. My eyes scanned the fields, thinking I might see the twins. Noticing the darkening skies, I figured they possibly had already been put to bed. With a soft sigh, I waved to the shepherds once more, resuming my flight.

The closer to the Manor I came, the more my body began to ache. Silvi and I really had pushed ourselves a lot harder than we normally had done in the past few weeks. I knew the very moment my feet landed on the stone balcony, I faced the possibly of collapsing from the soreness on my body.

Part of me was cursing myself for choosing to fly home. I could have easily transformed back into a human and called for Fenris. The massive wolf would have speedily, and happily, come and carried me home on his back. And yet here I was, struggling to stay aloft in the air.

When I crossed over the banister, my clawed feet instantly latched onto it and with one final lunge, I face-planted onto the floor. I groaned as I laid there from a moment, sighing heavily.

I stabbed a fist into the flooring, pushing my body up until I was sitting on my knees. I sat there, staring blankly at the closed double doors. My clawed fingers then reached up for the necklace, thumbing it gently, and closing my eyes.

I felt my body slowly growing softer as my dragonic form conceded to that of my human form. My shoulders ached as my wings folded into me. Even my butt hurt as my tail receded. Once I was human was again, I flipped out my legs, quickly groaning in pain as a cramp shot through my right leg.

I flopped to my side, stroking the throbbing muscles and slowly stretching out the leg. I hated getting cramps after a long day of training. They didn’t occur often, but enough to where I loathed the onset of whenever they decided to pop up.

When the pain had sufficiently subsided and the tension within my leg eased, I rolled back onto my knees. I looked over and saw a small table. I held out my hand and summoned it towards me. Using it as a prop, I slowly hoisted myself onto my feet, still feeling the muscles tensing up. When I got myself upright, I hobbled over the doors and turned the handle opening it.

The room was dark as I looked into it. I shook my head as I saw my bonded wolf lying asleep on my bed. When I crossed the threshold, the wolf’s ears quickly perked up and his head sharply rose off of the bed. He then bounded off and stood beside me. I smiled as I reached out and held onto his fur.

The two of us walked over to my couch, where I quickly plopped down into it, sighing heavily in relief as I laid on the soft sofa cushions. Fenris then sat beside me on the floor, his eyes gazing gently at me.

I craned my head over and smiled, reaching for his fur, stroking it and running my fingers through it. His nose lowered to my face as his tongue lapped over my face, giggling softly.

A soft hand then descended onto my face. I looked up to see Rachel standing over me. My smile warmed as I stared into her eyes. She then stroked my face with the back of her fingers, her violet eyes glittering tenderly as we gazed at each other.

“Did you have a good time with your sister?”

I nodded, feeling as though I were slowly melting away at her touch. Her smile grew more as she nodded in return, “I am glad my love.” She then leaned over the over, placing a kiss onto my cheek. I giggled tiredly.

My mother pulled up slightly, “Shall I have your dinner brought up to you?”

I nodded, “Yes please.”

She nodded, “Rest dear.” She then peered up at Fenris, with the two of them nodding to the other as she disappeared from view.

I lied silently on the couch, staring upwards at the ceiling. The room slowly grew darker as the sun slipped under the hillside. Fenris laid down beside me with a soft thud as his body rested against the couch. I smiled as I could see the top of us back. My hand slipped over his fur, running to across it.

The room slowly began to glow as soft lights rose to life. It wasn’t a shocking brightness, but merely a gentle crescendo, just enough to illuminate the room. Rachel had set up the light to turn on this way if I were to come in from being outside from most of the day.

I felt myself slowly succumbing to my fatigue as my body settled on the couch. My eyes gradually closed as I slipped off into sleep.