In Part 3 (Ch. 18-25), our narrator became more comfortable with what she is, now that she knows it. She’s still not ready to fight to survive, but she’s ready to learn how, even if that means telling other people.
Apparently, there’s a standard “ready” stance for sparring, although Coach was quick to clarify that it doesn’t really apply outside of tournaments. Still, he taught it to me anyway. And told the rest of the groups not to watch, which was nice.
Plus I think he gave Davidson a pep talk because he’s looking a lot better now.
I still have no idea how combat works. Coach Manning said I should just try to knock Davidson off his feet, but I don’t think I’ll get that by punching. So instead I’ve been standing very still and hoping he doesn’t notice that I’m freezing the ground. Frozen sidewalks are slippery, so I think that’ll happen on a field? I’m being careful to make the ice cold but not too cold, because I don’t want to give him frostbite from stepping on it. I don’t know exactly what units the numbers are using, but I’m trying to make it match what I’ve seen in the freezer at home. Turning off the color map spell makes understanding my surroundings a lot harder, but it makes using magic a lot more precise, so I usually have it active but sometimes I turn it off just to see what the numbers are. When I do that, I have to focus on a smaller area so I don’t get a headache when I turn off the spell… or should I say “volume?” That’d better fit what math class calls it.
Coach and everyone else are standing well away from Davidson and I, but I can still hear Coach Manning clearly when he shouts. “Ready? Begin!”
And then Davidson is-holding-a-bat-made-of-ice-and-he-comes-in-close-and-swings-it-at-my-legs-and—and I didn’t even feel it touch me before it vanished. What?
Davidson stares at his hand for a moment. Then he straightens up and punches my shoulder, and I land on the frigid ground. Which prompts me to immediately scramble to where I was standing.
Oh, right, magic immunity. That was magic ice.
But he’s still stronger than me, and freezing the air near the ground just made it cold, not slippery. Until I understand better how to fight, I don’t think I have a chance of winning. I think I can see why younger Dragons always die when they try to not be villains. No training. I can’t even win against a single classmate, let alone a Dragon. Hopefully I’ll learn before they get here?
Davidson holds out his hand, and when I take it, he pulls me to my feet. “At least you’re not crying,” he comments with a smile of sorts.
I don’t really register his words, but I nod anyway.
Coach Manning approached while I was getting back up. “Whew! It’s cold over here!” he states with a shudder. “What were you doing, Gaschler?”
I take a few deep breaths and decide to start warming the air around us. “I wanted him to slip on ice. It didn’t work.”
“Oh!” Davidson exclaims with a grin. “No wonder there was frost around you! You’re gonna need thicker ice than normal for me, though, or my claws will just go through it.”
I frown. Is there a—yep. Fred’s Heated Volume. Apparently he was somehow the first blue dragon ever, so I bet he made a lot of simple spells. He probably made half the heat spells in the Mymoir. Let’s see… two inches thick, along the ground, and… two-foot square. Two patches, with different heat numbers.
After a few seconds pass, I point out each patch of ice. “Davidson, can you take a look? The patch of ice on the left is frozen water.”
He looks, but immediately points to the one on the right. “Yeah, but that one is more like what you’d need to make me slip.”
“That’s cold enough that a lot is probably air.” The numbers are like a hundred times lower. “You’d probably get stuck to it like when a gullible person licks a metal pole.”
“How can you tell the difference?” Crane asks. I’d forgotten he was even here.
“The one on the right is a lot colder?” I explain.
“Yeah, but, how? You’re new to magic, but I can’t tell when you ever cast anything. Most kids will point, or clench up, or give some sort of sign that they’re not just standing there. You just stopped moving for a second and things happened.”
“Maybe my magic works different enough that I think about it differently? I pick out where to cast by checking the heat of everything around me first.”
“Hold on!” I hear Coach Manning half-shout. “Can you tell where I’m standing without looking?”
Pointedly, I don’t turn around. “Yes? I’m… not sure I could pick you out of a crowd, but—” and he walked around until he was in front of me. Thankfully not on the frozen air but for safety I end the spells. There’s a billow of mist where the air was.
“I’ve got a brief test for you.” He hovers off the ground a few inches; I guess he’s wearing a flight wand. “Without turning your head, point to me wherever I fly.”
“Like you did for Murphy?” Crane asks, referring to our brown-haired classmate.
“Exactly. I might not be a scientist, but I do know I’m warmer than the air today. Right, Gaschler?”
I let out a small laugh. “Everyone is. Even Davidson.”
“I do have fire magic for a reason!” Davidson exclaims, and I laugh a little louder.
“Anyway,” Coach continues, “Wizards can sense spells. It’s easier in front of them, but if they train, they can dodge magic coming from all angles. I figure we might be able to train Gaschler in a similar technique. Maybe not dodging magic, but she’s already demonstrated why that’s not much of a concern for her. And knowing where your allies and foes are in a fight can be very useful. First, Gaschler: point at me.”
I aim my right index finger at his chest with my arm extended.
“Now, keep pointing at me, regardless of how I fly, without moving anything but your arms. Understood?”
I nod.
“If you lose track, just drop your arms. I’ll return shortly.” And then he flies over and behind me, and I turn the color map spell back on so it’s easier to keep track of him.
No matter where he goes in the stadium, he’s still well within my range, so it’s not tremendously difficult to track him. I close my eyes so I can focus better on that sense, though. Back, forth, up, down, side to side; not very challenging. Then he lands next to someone else and… I think that person started moving, because the other heat volume is smaller than his, and slightly warmer. Then the person I think is Coach moves to stand in front of me, and I open my eyes. I was right!
“Woah, calm down there, Gaschler,” Coach says with a slight smile. “I didn’t even say how well you did.”
I frown. “Did I guess wrong?”
He shakes his head. “No, you were right. But you were a little uncoordinated. I could tell you knew where I was, but you weren’t pointing at me.”
“I—”
He holds up a hand. “It’s fine. You’re young, and now I think I know where to focus your training, at least to start. Can I assume you can do the same thing while transformed?”
I nod. “The range is bigger.”
“How big is your range now?”
I take a mental trip to the edge. It cuts off like someone put up a wall, so it’s hard to guess what’s beyond it, but I think I can sense most of the school. “I think there might be one room in the elementary school that’s out of range. I don’t know the whole layout of the building, though.”
Crane whistles. “That’s ridiculously far! That’s, what, a quarter of a mile? How far can you check heat when you’re a dragon?”
“Past some of the town walls.”
“And it’s over a mile to the closest one.” I can’t read Davidson, but Crane is clearly impressed.
Coach shakes his head. “Can every Dragon do this?”
I grasp my right arm behind my back. “Not all of them use heat, but, yes. For whatever element they have; it’s how we can cast our spells at all.”
“No wonder it’s hard to surprise them. Well, I’ll set up the training for that next time, and I’ll make sure I’m using things you can detect.”