Chapter LXXXVII: There is a First Time for Everything -Ceres

Ceres stood in the forest clearing, reading from the spellbook she was practicing from. A soft breeze blew past her, blowing her long black and silver hair around her face. Her solid blue eyes narrowed as she tried to read the text of the book, then they changed to yellow, as she grew frustrated. The wording was in ancient Rowen, and a bit hard to make out. As she tried to make out the writing, she recalled the teaching of her master, the wise old Asher. "Rowen writing takes time and calmness to understand. Trying to read the ancient text while mad will not help. Ceres, you must be calm. Only then will it reveal itself to you."
Ceres tooks a deep breath, her eyes returning to blue once more. She carefully began over, trying to make out the words. The ancient Rowens seemed to have used another language when they wrote the spellbooks. Then it dawned on her. They had merely written everything backwards! She laughed, and tried out a small spell, turning a flower to stone.
She kneeled beside the flower, and touching it with her finger, chanted the words. "Lothmar tanenbalm!" Within a instant, the flower turned to stone. Ceres smiled, then touched the flower once more, chanting the words to reverse the spell. "Tanenbalm lothmar!" Under her finger, she felt the stone petals soften, returning to their silky nature. She smiled. Getting the hang of spellcraft would be easy.
Her head jerked up at the sound of a call. Overhead, a golden Rowen flew, causing Ceres to grin. It was Draco, their leader, and her beloved father. She stood and waved, calling out to him telepathically. "Hello Father!"
The golden dragon, for that is what a Rowen is, turned his head and looked back at the young girl as he flew over the clearing. Then he circled back, and flapped his wings, hovering over her. "Good day, Daughter. Are you practing your magic, as Asher has instructed?"
Ceres nodded. "Yes, Father. I just now have figured out the text. It was written backwards!"
Draco chuckled, which to a normal human would have sounded like a bugle call. He gave his only child a smile, his blue eyes twinkling. "Then I suppose you can teleport home? It will be nightfall soon, and I do not wish my child out here at night. Humans might be about, hunting for us."
The girl nodded. "Yes, Father. I can use the spellbook to teleport home. Do not worry, at the first sign of danger I will leave."
Draco nodded his golden head, the sun making his scales sparkle. "Then I shall see you at home, and you may then show me what you have learned so far from the ancient Rowens. Goodbye Daughter."
"Goodbye Father. I shall be home soon." Draco nodded, and turned back towards the mountains, which was their home, flapping his wings as he soared. Ceres watched her father take his leave, then as he flew out of sight, she flipped to another page of the book. Using her newfound knowledge of how the book was written, she scrolled down the page until she came across the teleportion spell. All Rowens knew the spell, which was how most got around now that the humans were hunting them. Ceres never understood why, her people were gentle, and never attacked the humans' camps. As she pondered this, she heard a noise in the bushes to her left, and turned to look.
The bushes parted, revealing a human male with short dark hair and leather armor, carrying a sword in his hand. He looked surprised when he saw Ceres standing there. Her eyes went wide. "Did you see a dragon fly by?" he asked, eyeing her carefully.
"No, I did not. A dragon you say?" she asked.
The man nodded, stepping closer to her. Ceres wished him no harm, but if she must, she would attack him. "I haven't seen you in town before. Where are you from?"
She swallowed hard, trying to think of a camp she could name. "Ummm....Hadara, near the Hadara Lake." At least she hoped that's what it was called. She knew there was a town near that lake, and the lake was actually called Hadara, but as for the town...that was a different story. She prayed that the human would buy her story.
"Hadara you say?" he asked. Ceres nodded. "My father is from there. Do you know Onkar the blacksmith? He's my Grandfather."
Ceres smiled. It was easy to fool this human. "Oh, yes. He is very nice."
The human frowned and raised his sword at her. "There is no Onkar the blacksmith there. You lie. You must be one of them."
Ceres cocked her head in puzzlement, her eyes on the sword. "Them? And who are they you speak of?"
The man laughed, which was cold and bitter. "A dragon. And you're one of them." He held the point of his sword at her throat. She slowly moved her hand up towards the sword, to move it away, all the while her mind screaming at her to flee. Her only option was to turn the man to stone; or else he’d kill her. "Only another dragon would pretend not to know about dragons, or about that golden one that flew this way, towards the mountains. Either you are a friend to the vile creatures, or you are one of them. Speak, and tell me."
She eyed the human coldly, trying hard not to let her eye color change, as slowly she became alarmed. He would kill her, she knew that, but not before she cast the stone spell upon him. Her hand touched the sword, and quickly she cast the spell. "Lothmar tanenbalm!"
The human screamed as slowly he became stone. Ceres watched in horror, ashamed at what she had done. But, if she hadn’t, it was quite possible she’d be dead, and the human going after her father. Things were better this way, she reasoned.
Quickly, she scrolled down the book’s page to the teleportion spell, and chanted the words to it. " Kyurene bakene titus!" Instantly, a portal opened in front of her, crackling with energy. Ceres looked at the portal, unsure if she should enter it. Something didn’t seem right. But, she had to flee this place before more humans showed up. She looked back at the young man, feeling sorry and ashamed what she had done to him. ooOO(I’ll change him back,)OOoo she thought.
She chanted the reserve spell once more, then, as he slowly became flesh, she jumped into the portal. Instantly she found herself falling through space and screamed. As the ground rushed up at her, she quickly transformed, her whole skeleton changing, her neck growing longer, a pair of silver and black wings sprouting from her back. Her spine extended, forming a spiny tail. A pair of silver horns sprouted from her forehead, moving upwards as her skull transformed into that of a dragon’s. Ceres’ hair disappeared, blending into her skin, which was hardening into scales. Her hands and feet turned into claws.
As the ground rushed up to greet her, Ceres flapped her wings hard, trying to keep from crashing. She managed to level off only a few feet above the hard ground, before she tumbled head over heels and crashed. She still wasn’t use to flying like that, and dug her nose into the ground. When she stopped, she picked her head up, and using a claw, rubbed her nose. "That HURT!" she said out loud. Then she looked around. Nothing looked familiar, so where was she?
She stood, looking around, trying to get her bearings. As she looked around, she realized she was still in the clearing, but that had to be impossible. The human was nowhere in sight, or in scent. She didn’t recognize any scent, actually. Things might have looked the same, but they didn’t smell the same. Everything looked to be normal, but she knew it wasn’t normal. ooOO(Perhaps I should find someone to help me. That is, if there is someone around her who can!)ooOO She flapped her wings, taking to the air.