Cloud Shifters
Chapter 9: The Lost Art

Cadin ran to Town Hall on the last day of his Break, not wanting to be late for his community service. He planned to stop by Master Emilio’s after he was done cleaning to set up his apprenticeship. Apprehension nagged at him while he wrestled with his schedule. There are too few hours in a day!

It didn’t help that he had to leave Gur with his mom as the baby dragon recovered. The injuries didn’t stop Gur from racing to the door and up his leg every time Cadin tried to leave the house without him. Usually Sara could distract Gur with a warm bath while he snuck out.

Cadin raced through the back door of Town Hall and into the janitorial office. The head janitor, Bruce looked at him with a smile while he grabbed his sides and tried to catch his breath.

“So…sorry,” Cadin sputtered between breaths. “Dragon…problems…long story.”

“Don’t worry,” said Bruce. He was young guy with a white Aura and laid back nature. He was sitting back with his feet up on the desk and curling weights with his scrawny arms. “Of course, Ruben insisted that I write you up for any tardiness to extend your community service hours, but he is a jerk. Besides, your contract has been transferred to another department.”

“What, really?” Cadin said. He liked Bruce; and though the work was not the most fun, he would rather do this than work in the Corrections Department where they would all treat him like a criminal.

“Yep, sorry dude. You got the weird guy in the Cloud-Shifting Department. Here are you transfer papers. You should probably head there now—who knows what he will be like if you are too late. Oh, and watch out for his office being monitored… he definitely feeds info to the Core.” Bruce’s left eye twitched. Cadin didn’t worry about the Core bit, as Bruce was a conspiracy nut and often gave Cadin strange advice on how to survive any upcoming invasions.

“Thanks for everything, Bruce. Good luck on your workouts!”

He got to Master Emilio’s door and wasn’t sure if he should knock first or just walk in. He was about to knock, when Master Emilio opened the door and waved him in.

“Welcome back,” Master Emilio said briskly. “As you have the paperwork in your hands, you must know that your community service contract has been transferred. Apprenticing with me for the next four months will satisfy your contract, though it may be continued voluntarily after such time. Do you understand and agree to those terms?”

“Yes,” Cadin said. It was probably better than cleaning toilets. And it helped his schedule a lot.

“Then sign the paperwork and we will get started.”

“We will not learn about your gins this lesson,” Master Emilio said as he watched Cadin pull out his clunky white bag. Cadin was disappointed, but did not say anything as he put his bag away.

“Before you can learn to use your gins, you must first understand what they are and how everything in this System interacts.”

“That makes sense,” Cadin said. “So, what makes my gins different from my marbles at home? Why can’t I take them out of this bag? And you keep saying that I can use gins…I don’t understand what you can use a marble for.”

“Slow down and let me teach a few things that you must grasp before you can begin to comprehend what gins are and how you might use them. “When we first met, you asked me how I knew you had broken into Glade Palace. Do you remember what my answer was?”

“Um, something about energy leaving traces,” Cadin answered, somewhat unsure. He hadn’t expected to be quizzed.

“Correct. There are many different types of energies in the clouds and in particular on cloud-lands.” Master Emilio pulled out a piece of paper and pencil and placed them in front of Cadin.

Maybe toilets were better, Cadin thought as he picked up the pencil and started taking notes.

“There is a great deal of energy within a cloud. Though the surface of a cloud is usually calm, the inside is bursting with wind, water and sometimes lightning. Some creatures and individuals harness this energy to cloud-shift and create cloud-lands and other cloud-features. Angels have learned to tap into a cloud’s energy and use it as a power source that can be captured, stored and used when needed. Aside from the sun, the clouds are our greatest energy source.

“Everything has energy. Inanimate objects have a less active energy, and living creatures have a much more active and easily detected energy. We are used to thinking of this type of energy as Auras. But even if you can’t see it, it is there.”

“What does this have to do with gins?” Cadin couldn’t help but ask.

Master Emilio shook his head. “You must work on patience, young Cadin. If you know that we will get to it, why do you have to ask?”

Cadin blushed and returned to taking notes.

“As I was saying—if you can sense that energy, then you may be able to connect with other creatures and even objects such as gins, similar to how you connect to a cloud and get those objects to do things that they would not normally do on their own.”

Cadin wasn’t sure he believed what he was hearing and then he remembered when he first glimpsed Master Emilio. “Is that what you were doing the day we met?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, cool.” Cadin imagined making all the objects in his bedroom having mock battles in mid-air.

Master Emilio seemed to read Cadin’s mind. “It is not nearly as easy as cloud-shifting. Most angels can intuitively sense other angels to some degree and a few can extend that to other creatures. Though a cloud is not technically a living thing, angels are creatures of the clouds, and so can also naturally connect with them. However, very few angels can sense the energy of non-living things, natural or angel made. Gins are unique non-living objects in that they are a rare type of cloud-stone that has an energy level that is closer to that of a living creature than an inanimate object and therefore easier to sense.

“Now there are stages to having something move. The first is to sense the energy. The second is to connect with it. The third has two options. You can either force it to move, or you can ask it to move. There are differences in the results depending on what you connect with and what you intend for it.

“In my experience, asking works better with living creatures, and forcing works better with objects. Clouds and gins are the exceptions, and a combination usually yields the best results. Now, before you try to connect with your gins—let’s see how you do with other objects and creatures.” Master Emilio walked around the desk. Cadin turned to see what he was doing, when everything went dark as Master Emilio slipped a blindfold over Cadin’s head.

“First you must learn to rely on other senses besides sight.”

Cadin heard some rustling around the room and guessed that Master Emilio was placing things on his desk.

“I have removed everything from the top of the desk except for four things. Now place your hands only on the desk—not the objects and try to sense each of them.”

He did as he was told and placed his hands on the desk. He wasn’t quite sure what to do next. Everything smelled as it had before—like an old chemistry lab that had its share of spills and fires. What else can I do? Cadin wondered. Spreading his fingers out, Cadin felt the desk and tried to focus his energy to his hands. They warmed up a bit and he felt a faint pulse that rippled across the wooden surface. He focused and felt something fast and very energetic and a couple of other dull bumps.

“I feel a couple of things on the desk,” Cadin said. “The first is really strong and fast and reminds of a big insect or small dragon running back and forth…only it feels bigger than that.” Cadin paused for a moment wondering if a cloud-rat was going to run over and start biting his hands.

“Continue,” Master Emilio said calmly.

“The other things just feel like bumps.” Cadin felt a little lame with his descriptions; however, Master Emilio’s voice did not sound disappointed when he told him he could take the blindfold off.

Cadin rubbed his eyes and focused on the desk. To the left was a medium sized potted plant. Next to it lay the pencil and paper that he had been using; and the last thing was a long mask carved out of wood. Cadin peeked under the mask to see if it held the hyper little animal that he had felt. It must have run off the edge.

“What are you looking for?” Master Emilio asked, a smile pulling at the edge of his mouth.

“The fast energy thing that I felt.” Cadin answered as he continued to look around the room.

“Oh, you mean the plant.” Master Emilio picked up the potted plant off the desk and handed it to Cadin. Cadin’s hands were still warm and he felt the fast and powerful energy of the plant through the pot. “I told you that all living things have energy that is faster and much easier to sense than objects. That includes plants.”

Cadin felt silly for not realizing it before.

“I would say that was a fairly good blind test,” Master Emilio commented as he gently grabbed the plant back from Cadin and put it on the window sill.

“Really? Does that mean I can try the gins now?”

“That will be the first thing that we will do for our next lesson, as it is getting late and you should probably get home. Your homework is to open your consciousness up to all cloud-life. Get a feel for the different energies surrounding you.”

Cadin didn’t want to stop, but was also anxious to get home and check on Gur. He grabbed his paper and thanked Master Emilio before walking out the door.

Gur ran back and forth between Cadin’s shoulders as they walked through the smooth, double door entrance. He received special permission from Headmaster Tripharian to have Gur with him at school after bringing a note from Miss Esperanza explaining (in a slightly disappointed tone) that it is not advisable to separate a dragon from its owner once they bonded.

Headmaster Tripharian scratched his beard as he read the letter. “A few years back we had a student that secretly raised a pair of grass dragons that she kept hidden in her locker. One day both dragons found a way to escape and caused havoc before they found her.”

“Yeah, Gur doesn’t like to be away from me.” He wondered what Gur would do if Cadin had to keep him out of school. “But he is really good if he can stay on my shoulders,” he added quickly.

Headmaster Tripharian put the note in a pile and pulled out a pen and blank paper. He looked at Cadin. “If he stays well behaved and your school-work does not suffer, you may keep him. Understood?”

“Yes, thank you!” Cadin grabbed the offered note and headed to class.

Everyone surrounded Cadin to talk about the dragon before Instructor Kade walked into the room. He found it much easier to calm Gur down after everyone took to their seats.

“Welcome back from Fall Break everyone!” Instructor Kade said. The class settled down and looked up expectantly. “Now, I have a surprise for you. We will be training outside of the school today, and this comes with a chance to earn a badge!” Instructor Kade held up his hands for silence. “We will be training at Glade Cloud Park to work on cloud-shifting.”

“Oh, excellent!” Lexi said from the far side of the room. The rest of the class responded with similar sentiments.

“Now,” Instructor Kade said, “We have a few minutes until the group transports are ready, so let’s have a brief lesson about cloud-shifting. Who can tell me what cloud-shifting is?”

Lexi’s eyes shone bright pink as she raised her hand in the air. Instructor Kade nodded to her and she stood up to address the class.

“Cloud-shifting is when angels purposefully shape the clouds around them to different forms and consistencies.”

“Nicely put, Lexi; however, I would add that it is not always intentional. In fact, as angels we all subconsciously cloud-shift to a certain extent, and that is how we have cloud-lands. Cloud-shifting is a highly beneficial skill for all angels to perfect for various reasons. For tactical purposes, you can create nice cover or a blockade, and for practical purposes if you are flying for any distance and get tired, you can cloud-shift any nearby cloud to become a small solid cloud-land to rest on. The cloud-land will resume its normal shape soon after you move on. Even a grown angel that is wounded and nearly unconscious will subconsciously cloud-shift a resting area.

“I say grown angel because having an Aura hugely increases the subconscious abilities of an angel to cloud-shift. One of many reasons why all un-winged angels should stay away from the edge of the cloud-lands.” Cadin squirmed in his chair. “Patrol angels are fast, but I wouldn’t rely on them catching you if you fall.” Instructor Kade fluttered his wings and continued. “More permanent cloud-lands such as Glade are formed by a group of angels living together, and constantly using the cloud-land. It takes a long time and many angels to form such large, solid cloud-lands. Glade National Cloud Park is a protected area that safely controls natural clouds for all angels to enjoy and practice their cloud-shifting.

“Yes, Hydra?”

“How do they make the natural clouds not turn into solid cloud-lands like the rest of Glade?”

“There are park rangers whose jobs are to control the area and actively cloud-shift to the natural cloud form. Any other questions? Yes, Xeno?” Cadin turned around to look at his friend.

“Well, as the clouds are natural, and the angels practicing there may not have wings, how do we not fall through to Earth?”

“It is part of the rangers’ job to simulate natural clouds above, and solid, though soft, cloud-lands below. Don’t worry, class. Many angels practice there, and falling is part of the learning process. It is a fun and safe place to try things out. This is the first official cloud-shifting lesson for most of you as it is not taught in middle school. This is the age that most angels’ energy is strong enough to cloud-shift to any useful extent.”

“I think we have time for one more question. Yes, Sun.”

“Do any other creatures cloud-shift?”

“Actually, most cloud-creatures cloud-shift to a certain extent. I am no expert and you will learn more in your cloud-nature classes. I can tell you that the creatures that cloud-shift the most besides angels are cloud-plants and wraths.”

There was a general shudder through the class as they had all grown up with the stories warning them against the most dangerous animals in the clouds. Even dire dragons kept their distance from the strange leathery winged creatures that got twice the size of an adult angel, made nests inside of clouds and ate large cloud-creatures to absorb their energy and get increasingly stronger. Cadin heard a fellow classmate start to hum the rhythmic beat of the common childhood rhyme and matched the words in his head—

Beware the wraths teeth and lies,

Fear to ever look straight at their eyes.

They beguile, bewitch and lure you in…

You wake only to see you’ve approached your end.

“Ah, the transports are here.”

Cadin moved with the rest of the class towards the windows. Sun and Lep were both next to him and Cadin saw Sun crinkle her nose at the sight of the transports.

“Those do not look safe,” she said as she watched ten large floating platforms manned by adult angels arrive over the main road towards the front of the school. Two hovered low at the corners and one vibrated madly. He also noticed how many there were, and guessed that it was not just their class or even just the first years going on this class trip—it must be the whole school.

“Yes, Sun” Instructor Kade said, apparently responding to her comment, “Headmaster Tripharian is talking to your father about upgrading our school transports.”

“That is good to hear.” Sun watched with a shudder as the last of the transports pulled around, dragging a back corner on the road.

“Alright, let’s head out. Make sure you all stay with me as a group.”