Nend Ardhon Chronicles - Complete

Chapter 2 – Growing up

Byia had a peaceful and happy life while growing up. She was never alone because Teera worked in a back office where she had a big Clinic and Byia was always next to her. Byia found out a few Moons later that her mother's Clinic was a very important section of the Healing Facility that was right next door to their house.

Her older brother, Paullu, was always studying some weird books or peacefully reading an Adventure book. Once in a while, Byia saw him playing on the left wall of his room, magically transformed into a huge screen, every time he wanted to play a game. She was still too little to understand or play it, but she liked to watch. Most of the games were with a Surface-Dragon, that moved along the prairie doing things, imitating Paullu's movements.

One of the things that Byia liked the most was when her father placed her on his back and took her for a ride outside the City. Teera always hated that because she was afraid that the love of adventure from Sergge would be passed on to her beloved daughter. Little did she know that it was exactly what was happening — not because of Sergge, but because Byia used to love her travels in space in her former life, and those rides with her father always made her particularly happy. The open waters resembled a lot the quietude of the deep space that Byia's former self loved so much.

The memories of Byia's past life were blocked since the first day she saw Magic, but now and then, Byia had a dream during her sleep or remembered something that she wasn’t supposed to know anything about.

When Byia was three Tides-old, she woke up from a very vivid dream and made a drawing of a Chessboard and the pieces. Such a game didn’t exist in the Nend Ardhon World, but she explained the rules to Sergge, who put them in writing. He was also the one who made that idea of hers a reality by using his Magic to make a board out of smooth rock and the pieces as well. To protect her, he went with that game to the House of Commerce but pretended to be the one who invented it. Soon, the game was being sold all over their Underwater World, and there were also rumors that the Surface -Dragons were also buying it.

Sergge predicted that when Byia would be four Tides-old, she would be a very rich Water-Dragon. That was why all the money from those sales was placed in a Fund Account opened by him, and Byia could only access it when she would be sixteen Tides-old and became a grownup. No one outside her family knew anything about it, not even her older brother, because her parents knew that the distracted youngster could babble about it to someone. Nevertheless, Byia instructed her father to make another Fund Account for her older brother so that he too could receive half of the money she was gaining every day.

Teera Calla always wondered how her little daughter could be so mature about things such as money and the future because she explained that money could help Paullu with his studies and hers when she decided what occupation to follow.

As soon as Byia was strong enough to swim by herself, she began exploring the vicinities of her house, all alone, when she caught her mother off guard.

By that time, she was two Tides-old, but she was supposed to be an independent swimmer as soon as she made one Tide. Teera explained to her that because she kept throwing up the baby algae when she was a few Moons old, only a small portion of the food stayed in her stomach, and that delayed Byia's growth.

On one of those escapades, Byia saw the change in the water around her and the Underwater City, with the automatic activation of the Dome Shield around the City to stop the strong currents, which occurred at a determined time in the rotation of the World when the two suns could influence the water on the Nend Ardhon World. Byia made a mental note to always be inside a Dome Shield because the strength of the currents hitting the Shield was scary.

She knew already that a Big Moon was a measure of time for the thirty-two nights the big moon in the sky above her Underwater City took to be completely visible, but the Tide system was a different matter. It occurred like clockwork every three hundred and eighty-four nights, without fail, since the beginning of time.

Byia learned by reading a book that female Water-Dragons were always bigger and stronger than the males, normally twelve meters long, while the males were only nine or ten meters long. Females were stronger, but males were faster. Except for Byia. Because of her low size of nearly two meters, she was faster than a male but weaker than a female of her age who was three meters long. Surprisingly, she was very good with Magic, understanding the complexities of High-Level Magic and memorizing the words that helped with concentration to use those Magics.

The only problem for her was understanding the mental language the Water-Dragons used. She was supposed to be able to speak mentally by the age of one Tide-old, but she took another Tide to be able to do it. Her parents always found it intriguing that every time they tried to mentally talk with her, she would answer with strange words or phrases in a weird language. She began doing that as a joke, and it stuck.

Byia was also very knowledgeable regarding the Dragons’ Society, Science, History, Astronomy and Healing Concepts. Teera had a lot of books in the Clinic waiting room, and Byia read them all, asking her mother for more advanced books on those matters because she wanted to understand them a little better. Seeing a toddler of three Tides-old peacefully seated in a chair in the waiting room of the Clinic and reading such advanced books was always a subject of curiosity and wonder from the staff working there or a patient.

On more than one occasion, Teera saw her little daughter discussing the subjects in a book with a patient, either a normal citizen or a Scholar on that matter, who found it intriguing that such a young female Dragon had so many interesting theories and interpretations of a subject that he took years to understand and fully grasp.

The funny thing is that Byia learned the runic letters that Water-Dragons use with her older brother because she was always next to him when he was reading, asking a bunch of questions every time she saw a different rune on a page of one of his books.

By the time Byia was four Tides-old, she was seated with her family having lunch, looking puzzled at a dish in front of her. She knew that animal, and she never liked the idea of eating it. She pointed at the dish and asked, “Mother, this is not my pet Nim, is it? Because he sure resembles him; it even has a small dot on the lower fin!”

“No, you know very well that I promised never to cook one of your Farm animals that you stubbornly keep at the back of our house, on that fence you and your father made. I really can’t understand why you like to play and talk with food!”

Byia shrugged while pinching the food with one claw. “I don’t see them as food, and I like to play with them. They also seem to like it.”

Teera slapped Bya's paw with her tail and warned her, “Do you mind stopping taking pieces of the table to eat? I saw your tail take a huge chunk! Really, why do you like so much to eat these plants? I can never have my furniture complete because there is always a hole somewhere!”

“But it's not my fault if you buy at the store furniture made with these sweet plants! They are so yummy that I can’t resist!”

Teera Calla made a throw-up face and said, “Blargh!... I never saw a Water-Dragon that liked these sweet plants! No one else eats them; they are only good for decorations or furniture! Maybe it's my fault because I was the one to mix these plants into your baby food. I was desperate to make you eat without you throwing up everything!”

Byia spread over her plate a bunch of new leaves that her tail took from the table and licked her lips while pointing her trident fork at the food. “Maybe it's your fault, so now you can’t blame me! Come here, your sweet leaves! I mean, food! Hehehe!”

Teera tilted her head and remembered her little daughter about one event that she didn’t like a single bit. “Remember that I always told you the younger leaves of that plant have so much Healing Magic that they are normally used to make remedies and potions, besides furniture? Remember last Moon, when you ate so much of my new kitchen cabinet that you began to glow in your bedroom because you were so full of Magic that you lost control? What happened to your room? Do you remember?”

“I… Yeah, it blew up completely. At least I got rid of all those plants that you placed in there, and now I have just one wall with plants, and the rest of the room is really neat, like Paullu's room!”

Sergge held his laughter when he saw the pleasure face on Byia while his wife was almost throwing up. “Pffft!… Byia, I think this is a good day to teach you a couple of new moves. You are going to school next Tide and considering that you will be smaller than most males in there, I would prefer if you learned how to defend yourself.”

Byia frowned at Paullu, who was smiling at her because he very much enjoyed restraining her every time they trained. She pointed her fork and warned him, “If you dare to hold me on the ground again, I am going to make you regret it! You will never have a peaceful sleep because I will bite your ear every night!”

Paullu kept on grinning, and Sergge smiled. He always liked to see them bickering with each other because he knew that all those threats and teasing were because they loved each other.

After lunch, Byia was in the back garden, with her claws ready and her tail twisted like a screw, stuck on the ground. Paullu was smiling, with his tail pointing upwards. He never really feared Byia's speed when she used her tail in that way to make her jump like a spring into his direction because he could predict her movements, considering they had been training ever since Byia was two Tides-old and he was seven.

Paullu was nine Tides-old, and Byia should be bigger than him, but she was not. Her development was delayed because she was stubborn as a baby, always spitting and throwing up her food until her mother mixed with the baby food a couple of new leaves from a closet.

Those leaves were from a plant that, because of its sweetness, no Water-Dragon liked to eat; that was why it was normally used to make furniture, household items, and decorations. Surprisingly, the baby Byia loved the new mix, and she began eating everything Teera gave her. If there were some of those leaves, of course.

Sergge made a couple of movements for Byia to try, and when he shouted ‘Start!’, Byia didn’t move. She kept staring at Paullu, waiting. Her older brother waited for her to move, and after a couple of minutes, he was bored. She looked like a statue, and not even with their father telling her to attack, she budged.

Paullu made a slight smile and, with a strong push from his back legs, fired in Byia's direction.

In the last two seconds, before Paullu reached her, something in Byia's mind triggered, and all her training as a space cadet took over. She used her tail to jump to the left while grabbing Paullu's left paw. With a gentle push to the ground, Paullu shifted direction and crashed his face on the ground, Byia jumped on him and placed one front paw on the back of Paullu's neck, pulling his left arm back with her left paw, using her right leg to pull his right leg back, and her tail wrapping his, pulling it back as well.

Byia kept pulling a little of Paullu's arm, leg, and tail, making him scream in pain. If he tried to roll over to get free, she would pull a little more. Paullu finally stopped struggling and tapped the ground with his free paw, quitting. Byia released him and jumped back, waiting for a sudden attack. Not that Paullu ever did that, but her former life training made her react like that.

Sergge was astonished. He never saw a Water-Dragon using the tail as an extra limb. Normally, tails were only used to change directions while swimming or to slap someone. Not too hard, because it was considered a rude act to use a tail like that.

Byia was the first Water-Dragon to twist her tail like a screw and use it to increase her jump speed. And now, she used her tail to completely restrain Paullu’s tail, and she even pulled it to make him quit.

Sergge approached and touched Paullu's arm, leg, and tail to be sure he was alright. Despite his hurt pride, everything seemed fine. He then faced Byia and noticed the redness in Byia's eyes, a strong indicator that she was angry.

She could never hide or disguise her emotions because her eyes kept changing colors according to her mood. Sergge knew that it was a trait of Teera's family that his wife never had, but it seemed his daughter had it. It was a strong affinity with Magic that ran through Teera's family for generations. The last one to have color-changed eyes was Teera's great-grandmother, a powerful and famous Healer. There was even a statue in the City and a street with her name.

Sergge approached Byia and waited for her to calm down. When her eyes were light blue again, he spoke, “I think you are more than ready for entering school next Tide, but remember, you can’t use the knowledge that I am passing on to you to hurt others. Use it only in self-defense and always as a last resort. It's better if you get hurt if that means using your moves to hurt someone who wouldn’t be able to endure the pain you can inflict. Understood?”

Byia slowly nodded in complete silence. Her father always said that at the beginning of her training, but that was the first time he said it in the middle of it. Probably because she didn’t hold back and totally ruled over her older brother. She approached Paullu and asked, “Are you okay? I don’t really know how I did that; I think I was annoyed because you were always beating me up.”

Paullu made an awkward smile. “Yeah, I guess I deserved it. I wasn’t expecting you to do that, that's for sure. I was thinking that you would jump in my direction to attack me first like you normally do, but this time you waited for me. You took me completely off guard. You were amazing, sis. Shall we have another turn? Better to make sure it wasn’t luck, right?”

Byia smiled and went to her spot again, doing her usual stance, her tail twisted and stuck on the ground, her body lowered, and both front paws with the claws pointing forward. “Come, older brother, I won’t hurt you… much! Hehehe!”

From their left side, a familiar voice was heard: “Go, Byia, smash his head! Ahahaha!”

Paullu turned around, looking annoyed. He recognized that mocking tone anywhere. Looking from the top of the small wall that separated both houses, there he was, Guyi Mohryi, their neighbor.

Guyi Mohryi was born on the same day as Byia, but he was bigger than her by at least one meter. He came out of his egg before Byia and was on his mother's paws when Byia was being carried home by her mother.

He saw the little female sleeping, and he was mesmerized by the radiance that was coming from her body. His baby mind thought at that moment that it was the scales reflecting the light from the Nursery. As the Tides went by, he realized that it was because sometimes Byia loses control of her Magic and begins to glow a little. She was his best friend, and they were often together. Secretly, he wanted more and sometimes had problems hiding his feelings. Lucky for him, Byia was completely dense about such matters.

Because Byia was smaller than most females of her age, she never liked to play the more physical games the females played, like kicking a round rock ball through a ring at three meters high. Byia often got hurt with that game. Instead, she enjoyed racing against the males.

At least, until they started refusing to race with her and began to avoid her. Except for Guyi Mohryi. He took it as a personal matter to win her in a race and had tried it for the last four Tides, without success. With all his training, he was the fastest male of his age in the City.

Byia waved one paw at her friend with a big smile. “Hello, Guyi! You will be next, right after I take him down again!”

Guyi shook both front paws. “Don’t worry, I am fine just watching from here!”

Byia smiled and faced Paullu again, waiting for his move.

…

Late in the afternoon, Byia was reading a book about Deep Water Physics, when Teera arrived from work. She tilted her head when she saw Paullu studying at the dinner table and Byia next to him, reading. Sergge was nowhere to be seen. “Byia, where is your father? He normally waits for me to go to work.”

“A message arrived, and he said it was an emergency. He left a note for you on one of the kitchen closets.”

Teera dashed to the kitchen, and she turned pale at the message. She read it again and again, and she finally took a deep breath and concentrated, sending a mental message to her husband. “…||… Where are you, you crazy? You were supposed to be working at your desk, not joining a search Party to find a lost Explorer! …||…”

After a couple of seconds, a faint message reached her, as if Sergge was too far away, almost at the limit of their Mental Link. “…||… I am sorry, dear, but my friend Caddy has been missing for several days. The Guild received a message today from a witness who saw something disturbing in the Abyssal Pit area by the time Caddy went missing. You know that he would do the same for me. I may be gone for some days, but I will return with him or with some answers about his disappearance. …||…”

“…||… Okay, but be careful and come back as fast as you can! …||…”

A very faint answer reached Teera's mind. “…||… I… will… love…||…”

That was the last time Teera talked with Sergge.