Born In Flames

  “Those are the dragon wings of the family crest, dear,” said my father. “I see you have been blessed to wear them.” He moved his robe aside, revealing similar markings along his chest. “It takes years before a young Mageling like you is granted the right to wear their family crest. Your power must be stronger than I thought.”

  I glanced back down at them.

  Lexi huffed from behind us. “Umm…he’s not exactly as light as a feather. Can we go?” she asked, annoyed.

  I hoped it wasn’t because of my markings.

  Myrdinn waved his hand, and the port opened to take us back to Astral. Lexi jumped in without waiting for him to get out the sentence he had started.

  He turned to me with a smile and said, “I’m going to grab Zane. You go on through. I’ll meet you on the other side.” Then he kissed my forehead and stepped around me.

  Again the feeling of drifting through space pulled me until I was standing in a sunny field. Knee-high grass was swaying softly in the midday breeze.

  I looked all around me and up to the skies, closing my eyes and breathing deep as the feeling of home washed over me. This was where I played as a little girl. I could picture my former self running through the grass, chasing after the butterflies.

  “Hey you,” said Lexi. She had laid Logan down on the grass next to her and was sitting with her legs crossed. She always managed to make herself comfortable wherever she was.

  “This is amazingly beautiful,” I replied tracing one of the sun’s rays with my fingers. I picked a purple flower that swayed with the grass and sat down next to her.

  We both lay back and looked up, watching the clouds. It was nice to have a quiet moment with her. Was this what it would have been like had I not been born to fight Zordon? All peaceful and cozy.

  The sun felt delicious on my skin. A tingling burn blazed behind my new tattoo.

  “I see you earned your markings,” she said, a hint of jealousy in her voice. She sighed. “You deserve it though.”

  “I didn’t even know this would happen,” I admitted.

  “Yeah. I have a few more years before I can earn mine. Unless something crazy happens and the energy I use impresses the Counsel.”

  “Counsel?”

  “You have a lot to catch up on.”

  I was sure of that.

  After a brief moment of awkward silence, I said, “This was where I was raised, where Astral taught me everything.” I twirled the flower that I’d picked and put it in my hair, reaching for another to play with.

  “Really? I’ve only been here once before. My mother and I had to stay for a few days while the Draconta left the castle. It was all hush-hush, but Astral was very kind to us. I was taught a lot about magic in the few days that I was here.”

  I felt slightly jealous. Although I now remembered a lot of my time with Astral, I couldn’t remember how I learned the things he had taught me. The magic that I had then and the magic that I have now were different. I was stronger than before.

  My father came through the port with Zane on his back and found us lying in the grass. He looked angry, alerting me.

  “Let’s keep moving,” he griped. We both got up and followed behind his hurried steps. Were we in danger? Had Zordon found out about Zane already?

  “This house is completely protected. You will feel it the moment we step through the enchantment he has put up. It will feel like a stinging sensation. It’s to keep out unwanted visitors.” I nodded and felt the energy ripple through me as we stepped through the shield. Magic was going to be something I really enjoyed, especially if I could do things like this.

  “What about Zane?” I asked, confused as to why he was allowed in. He was definitely not wanted here.

  “He’s with me under my magic. The shield recognizes me.”

  Even though he was my father and I didn’t really know him, I could definitely sense aggravation in the way he shorted each word and practically spat them out. I looked over to Lexi and discovered a confused look on her as well.

  An enormous invisible bubble rippled around us and then Astral’s house appeared. It looked exactly as I remembered it. A giant-sized country cottage resting on the top of a hill. It was painted yellow with a large wooden door that had incredible detailing of animals and creatures mixed in with flowers. A picture of a fairy tale came to mind. I went to touch it, feeling like the animals may have been moving, but my fingers never made it to the wood. Astral stepped out from behind the front door, as colossal as ever. His smile was contagious, and I felt my heart swell. A part of me felt that he was a stranger, but the new memories that filled my mind told me otherwise.

  “Aurora Jay Megalos, my-my you certainly have grown up.” He wrapped his large arms around me with a deep-bellied chuckle as he shrunk down to a more manageable size. He was still several feet taller than I was so my arms could only reach around his sides. I got a face full of pale skin from his arms.

  He pulled my face into his hands and said, “You’ve got your mother’s eyes but your father’s face. You’ve sure grown into a beauty, Aurora Megalos.” I blushed uncontrollably.

  The smell of the fireplace crept out from behind him and teased my nose, making me feel even more comfortable. I suddenly remembered that he burned special logs that kept a feeling of comfort for his guests and that he liked to put orange peel into the fire. “Come inside, I’ve got something for you.” I followed him into the cottage forgetting all about my father and Lexi. I was too excited to care about the issue my father seemed to have. That is, until he brought it up.

  “We’ve got a major problem, Astral,” called Myrdinn as he slammed the door shut behind us. He dropped Zane onto the wooden floor like a pile of wood. I flinched at the sound.

  Lexi quickly walked in and set Logan on one of the cozy chairs by the fire. He stirred a little as green energy once again pulsed from her hands. She managed to keep him sleeping.

  I turned to listen to my father. “Zordon will be expecting Zane anytime now. I found this in his pocket.” He held up a round object. I wasn’t quite sure what it was so I stepped a little closer hoping to figure it out.

  I’d never seen anything like it before. It was the size of a compass and had a tiny dial like you’d find on a pocket watch. There were etchings on the outside that looked similar to hieroglyphics. As the dial moved in the light, the etchings lit up and then returned to their dull color.

  Thankfully Astral came to my rescue by explaining it out loud. “A spectol?” He looked over to me. “It’s a magical device that can recreate the time and place of anything going on with the person who holds it.” He took it from Myrdinn and brought it up close to his glowing eyes.

  “Thankfully we have it. We won’t have to worry about Zordon seeing it,” I said with relief. But the look on my father’s face took that relief away.

  “There are two parts to this device, Aurora. They feed into each other. This part takes the images and the other part plays them out.” My stomach sank to my feet. This was not good. “Now you see the problem. He knows everything that has just transpired, including your name and what you look like.” Myrdinn frowned and looked up to Astral. Astral closed his eyes. I couldn’t tell if there was disappointment or worry there.

  Should I tell them that I already had a run in with Zordon? I looked back at Lexi who shook her head no. Keep it to myself, I agree, I thought.

  “It will only be a matter of time before he finds this place,” finished Myrdinn. He looked defeated. “How could I be so stupid?” I went to him and hugged him. This was a huge burden to carry. How could he have known?

  Astral took control of the situation. “Let’s focus on fixing this. Call on Gabe. He may be able to help.” Myrdinn nodded and left the room. “Now back to where we were. Follow me, Aurora, I have something to show you.”

  The gentleness of his nature was pleasing. Even in a time of panic, he remained calm. But I felt defeated. I had no idea how to fix the situation and could not believe that I was supposed
to defeat Zordon.

  Astral began to laugh. “You can’t expect to be able to fix everything, my dear. At least not right away. You’ve only been your true self for a small amount of time. Give yourself some time to adjust…to remember.” His ancient eyes held so much knowledge. I couldn’t begin to understand it all.

  “I just expect a lot out of myself I guess. I don’t want to be a burden to anyone and that’s what I feel like.”

  He patted me on the back and opened a door in a hallway that we had approached.

  “Yes, you do expect too much, but that’s a good thing. It will keep you persistent. As for being a burden, I’m sure that in just a few days you’ll have enough of your powers under control to take that feeling away.”

  He moved out of the doorway so that I could look in to a room full of knick-knacks. Things I had never seen before. A desk sat in the far corner, surrounded by shelves. There was another small fireplace and a chair that sat in front of the desk.

  “What is this place?” I asked, confused as to why he was showing me this.

  “My room.”

  It reminded me of the Lyceum the way everything floated on air. I grabbed onto something that was similar to what my father had pulled from Zane’s pocket.

  “Ah, that is an earlier version of a spectol,” Astral explained. I let it go expecting it to fall, but it only floated past me. Then everything zoomed towards the walls and landed on the many shelves that were built there. I noticed how bright Astral’s blue eyes went when he used his magic.

  “Wow,” I said, amazed at how easy the cleanup was.

  “That’s the advantage of having magic. You can bend things to your will. But that is another lesson. I wanted to talk to you about something.” He stopped moving and turned to me. “That amulet you wear is extremely important and must remain protected. It is what binds you to your dragon side.”

  “How?”

  “On the day of your birth, I forged this amulet and cast a binding spell that I found in the Hall of Knowledge. No one knew exactly how your human side would mesh with the dragon blood that runs through your vein. Your mother and I thought it best that we take precautions. By binding your dragon to this amulet, you are able to keep your human form and shift into your dragon form safely,” he said softly.

  “So the dragon isn’t in me, it’s in the amulet?” I was confused. I know I had felt the stir of the dragon before.

  “No, the amulet is the anchor for what’s inside of you. When you fully merge with your dragon side, you will need this amulet in order to remain alive, otherwise the shift would kill you,” he said gravely. “That’s why it is so important that you keep it on at all costs. It’s as important as your Oraculus. That book is your life, Aurora.” His tone was serious, and his eyes stared deeply at the amulet lying on top of my tattoo.

  “I know. I feel it every time I have it in my hands. This feeling of protection takes over. I don’t want anyone touching it, not even people I love. It’s like—I know that without it, I would be nothing.”

  “That’s because it is your lifeline. You wouldn’t be anything without it. It is the beating of your heart.” I knew exactly what he was talking about because I had felt that deep down before.

  “About Zordon, umm…” I wasn’t exactly sure how to begin telling him about my previous encounter. He stopped walking around the room and turned to face me, his eyes intently probing my thoughts.

  I stammered, trying to sound positive. “Well, the Oraculus…sometimes I’m thrown into his world. Zordon’s world, I mean.” My hands were flying a mile a minute as I tried to explain. When I looked to his face, his brows were furrowed.

  “And…the last time that happened, he, umm…well…he kind of saw me.”

  “And what happened?” he asked calmly.

  “Nothing good. He tried to kill me. Zane was there, and it’s all his fault that I was even spotted because I was trying to hide, but yeah, he put me in this bubble thing and I knew that I was about to die, but then this white light clouded the bubble and saved me.” I exhaled loudly with a half-hearted smile.

  Astral stood quietly. A moment later he spoke. “I thought so, but I wasn’t sure. The Oraculus is a link between you and Zordon. A very dangerous link that I didn’t see coming. It makes sense though. Your Oraculus and Zordon’s are one and the same, only split in half. It all ties in with the prophecy.” I stood still, hoping he would continue with his explanation. This was what I had been waiting to hear.

  He began pacing back and forth, a nervous habit of his that I remembered. “One of The Fates tried to hide the creation of Zordon. It upset the balance. Rather than exiling him like their previous fifth brother who broke the law, they decided to try something different. They decided to take Zordon’s unfinished Oraculus and have me rip it in half, intending to create an ultimate rival.” He looked me dead in the eyes as if trying to etch that sentence into me.

  “Wait, you wrote our Oraculus? How?” I asked.

  He smiled and said, “I am an Ancient Aurora. I was chosen. As far as the white light that you saw, I would say you were saved by a higher power. A Fate is on your side. But that, my dear, is another lesson. I have much to think on, and you should get settled in before we delve deeper into this discussion. There is a lot to talk about.”

  I huffed but didn’t push it, remembering that it wouldn’t help anyway. When he chose not to say something, well, that was it. There was no persuading him. So I changed subjects.

  “Will the whole seeing Zordon thing keep happening?”

  “I have to research this anomaly more. Nothing like this has ever occurred, and I can’t tell you exactly how deep the connection is. This is why we must consider precautions.” He braced my shoulders, his eyes glowing a bit brighter. “And I don’t want you doing anything with your Oraculus until I say otherwise. You could not only put yourself, but everyone you love in danger by continuing to toy with it. Especially now that he has seen you, and we have confirmation that the connection is a physical one.”

  I silently nodded. He squeezed my shoulders and then let go, walking over to his desk.

  “I have a question about the prophecy,” I said quietly. “The last line talks about a death to He that breaks the barrier. Do you know what that means?”

  “Not without the missing piece. Soothe insisted on keeping it to himself. Did he tell you?”

  I shook my head no. “He didn’t tell me much of anything actually. Don’t you think it’s important that we find out the missing piece?” I boldly questioned.

  He smiled brightly. “Yes I do. I think it would help. But then one’s faced with knowing the truth, good or bad. Which leaves me questioning if we really should know. Soothe may not seem all there, but he knows what he’s doing. If you are meant to know, you will…one day.”

  One day can’t come soon enough. I’ll have to go back and find him, I thought, tucking the idea away for a later day. I didn’t know if he was in my head or not, but if he heard what I was thinking, then he must agree or he would’ve said otherwise. I hoped.

  I had one last question. “What happened after I left that night?” The sound of Gabe’s cry and the image of Astral’s worried faced was the most prominent memory.

  “The other two Fates were on their brother’s tail. They stopped them before they could go any further.”

  “What about you and Gabe?”

  Instead of answering, he smiled coyly. “There will be time to discuss these things Aurora. For now we need to plan what we’re going to do with Zane and get you settled in.”

  I followed him out of the room and back into the living room. Gabe and Myrdinn were huddled with their backs to us, whispering something I couldn’t understand. Myrdinn looked up at my arrival, and I caught him mouthing “…We’ll talk about this later.”

  What couldn’t they say in front of me?

  Gabe turned around to face me. It was strange seeing his face, knowing that I was wideawake. “Aurora,” he said as he walked slowly t
owards me. He stopped right in front of me, and as I reached out to hug him I wound up hugging the air.

  I opened my eyes and found him kneeling in front of me. I tried to recover myself as quickly as possible without anyone noticing, but of course nothing got past Astral. He chuckled from behind me.

  “It’s so good to see you alive and all grown up. The last time I saw you, you were…”

  I cut him off by finishing, “…a little girl. The night I left.”

  He stood back up, now looking down at me. “Yes, the night you went into hiding. Though we didn’t protect you as well as we should have.” His eyes shot to Myrdinn and then to the ground.

  Astral stepped in before I could ask what he meant. “Myrdinn, there was nothing anyone could have done to prevent the connection from happening. You have to accept what The Fates have planned.” Gabe must have told my father about my near death experience.

  “Honestly, it’s okay Myr…I mean, Dad. I’m fine. And we have bigger problems to worry about right now.”

  “As in dealing with Zane, I assume you mean,” he replied.

  Lexi walked in. “He’s chained up downstairs,” she announced, answering everyone’s question.

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea that we keep him here,” said Gabe. “We shouldn’t take the chance of Zordon tracking him.”

  Astral rubbed his chin as he paced back and forth.

  “He shouldn’t be able to track this house. Astral has enough enchantments to hide it from anyone,” said Myrdinn.

  “Except The Fates,” added Astral.

  “But they wouldn’t…” replied Myrdinn. Lexi grabbed my hand and pulled me away from the conversation to stand by the fire.

  “Your father heard about Zordon meeting with the Dark Saar. That is really why he is so upset.” I should have known. It’s not like I was going to come back to a perfect life. I was returning to fight a war.