Dragon Mirror- Ties Between the Veil
Five: The Bonding, The Aya’Chyn, And Her Will

C

Raina stood rooted to the ground. She couldn't immediately make sense of what was reality inside of her mind, and reality outside of its boundaries. The rock, or the egg, had burst into a cloud of light and mist that swirled around her when her hand had met its surface, like popping a water balloon.

You are my Drakun Mate. I am your Aya'Chyn.

She felt a moment of hysteria bubble up inside of her as she realized the voice sounded inside of her head with no visible source, just like Tralna. All of this was too much, too fast, and she felt like her brain was going to split open. She started to hyperventilate as she felt a gentle, questioning caress across her mind.

Chib'Raina, are you well? I may not take form until you give me direction.

Unable to respond, Raina closed her eyes. All of these bizarre things heaped one atop another, starting with the dreams and the vision in the foggy mirror.

The fog...the same color as this mist. The vision in the mirror... The flash of golden wings and the enormous silver maned head opening its jaws in a silent roar... Suddenly the voice cried out in joy in her mind.

I accept this Primal form!

Raina gasped as the mist began to swirl and condense around her body. She no longer felt a strong hysteria, but she was unnerved as the mist began to coalesce around her right arm. She stood as still as she could, not daring to move as fascination and wonder overtook her panic. The mist had begun to settle into the vague outline of a small luminescent glass dragon.

Breathing out softly, the sensation of her anxiety draining away left her with a heady sense of euphoria.

Raina raised her arm up to her eye level and met the bright multi hued eyes of the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. With decidedly feminine features, the dragon had a small head with a long horse-like muzzle. Two horns curved away behind delicate pointed ears that flicked forward and back on a luxuriant spiky mane that crested halfway down a serpentine neck.

Are we pleased?

Raina lifted a tentative finger, and gently ran it down the side of the extraordinary creature curled around her arm. It felt like touching wet or cool glass. Except that the creature was not hard like glass, but its skin flexed like a plastic bag full of water.

Raina chuckled nervously at the mental image of poking a hole in one of those goldfish bags you get from the faire. The small dragon's head recoiled and she sensed admonishment.

“As your Will grows, so does your Aya’Chyn.” Raina looked over to where Tralna still lay, Palliza speaking calmly.

“What you did to your breakfast was a misdirection of your Will, with no control or guidance from your Aya’Chyn.” The old woman stood next to the dragon, her hand tangled in the crest of feathers and fur. She smiled and gestured to Tralna.

“Tralna is my Aya’Chyn, she is more solid now, but once she was small and her form danced like heated smoke.”

Are you saying I was all hot air? The noble muzzle flipped up, butting at the hand on her head. You are saying I was gassy?

The woman laughed and scratched Tralna above her eyes. “Do you say I lie?”

Raina had taken a step towards them, her mouth hanging open slightly in mild amusement, and still a little shock. The warmth of the two attracted her, and she felt the same emanating from the small form clinging to her.

“I’m so confused.”

I am a manifestation of your Will. I am the Second Spirit, the Mirror of your soul.

The small dragonet laid its head close to the back of her hand. I know some things from my ancestral memory. It raised its head again and turned to look at Tralna.

You are not my Mother. But we are of the same family.

Tralna inclined her maned head. Aye. Your mother was my sister, Chayla. The tiny dragonet gazed at her aunt, a weighing look.

Where is my mother?

Tralna turned her head to the side, the ridge of feathers along her skull flattening, conveying distinct discomfort. She is gone, Little One- and that is all I can say. Palliza gently knotted her fingers in Tralna’s mane, her eyes hooded.

Raina felt uncomfortable, dizzy and flushed all at the same time. She pulled her little dragon, her Aya’Chyn, closer to her body. She felt as if every moment was some wild dream, but she wouldn’t wake up. She needed some type of normalcy or she might go absolutely bonkers.

Raina felt a strange anxiety that wasn’t hers yet seemed to exist parallel to her own emotions. The tiny dragonet let out a soft, concerned sound. Tiny claws gripped her skin and Raina closed her eyes and swallowed back nausea.

“This is too much.”

Palliza took a step forward as Raina involuntarily stepped back. Raina held up the hand unburdened by the small fantastical work of fiction. “I think-“

She turned to the side and threw up noisily.

I have upset you.

Raina looked down at the dragon clinging to her with a jaundiced eye. She could not deny she was upset. She was also thrown off by feeling her emotions doubled and hearing things in her head. And she had the nagging feeling that she had always had this presence with her.

I walked with you in the Dream. You called me Luna.

Her eyes narrowed, and she raised her arm. The Aya’Chyn gripped her arm tighter and rustled its wings. “How is that even possible? Or any of this for that matter?” Palliza came up to her side and took her by the elbow.

“Perhaps, we should take this inside over some food and drink?” The face of her grandmother smiled at her, and Raina burst into tears.

After she had calmed down, Palliza served her a cup of hot minty tea and small balled cookies that tasted like walnuts. Raina breathed the steam, staring out of the door to the garden, watching her Aya’Chyn crawling over Tralna. They seemed to be conversing, and she could feel the infinitesimal shifts in mood changes in the silent exchange.

“How can she be my cat, Luna?”

Palliza picked up her own cup and sat looking down into its depths. She rubbed her thumb along the rim, then sighed.

“Your Will exists in whatever plane you do. She will conform to that world so she may follow you. This is a unique quality I am only aware of in you. If I were to leave this plane for another, I would have to ensure my Aya’Chyn remained in contact with me at all times-“ She took an unsteady breath. “Or she would die.”

Raina looked up at the solemn woman. “How the Hell does that even work? My will is who I am, not some critter living outside my body!”

Palliza tilted her head in acquiescence.

“Aye, but our people have certain gifts outside of the norm. Your Will,” She said this with a definite capital W, “Is an extension of who you are, an extension of your innermost self and subconscious.” She set her cup down slowly. “Your grandmother-“

“My people?” Raina interrupted Palliza as the statement stuck.

The older woman’s mouth quirked upwards and she sighed. “You are much like Panillia. You inherited her bloodline, obviously. We are called the Darkuni. There have always been few of us that manifest, and many possess the bloodline, but not the ability. We require an Aya’Chyn to fully manifest. Otherwise we tend to be like any other humanoid, albeit with some extra talent for empathy and the creative arts… And so many Aya’Chyn have perished in the Breaking, I doubt any others exist besides our two.”

Raina frowned, contemplating the melting of her breakfast. That hadn’t been “empathy” or “creative art”. She opened her mouth, then closed it again. Maybe later.

Palliza looked out fondly at Tralna, who was holding the smaller Aya’Chyn down and grooming her. “The Aya’Chyn usually replaces us at puberty. Either brought to us by a family member, or we feel an urge to wander. The wandering brings us to the full manifestation of our Will.”

Raina felt like she was missing something and felt a deep confusion. But she also felt an illumination on how her Aya’Chyn could have been Luna.

“Grandma Pani gave me a kitten when I was thirteen. My mom almost had an apoplexy.” Raina also considered that her younger sister was extremely jealous when she told her it was not a family cat, but Raina’s alone. Raina frowned, remembering that she had thought it terribly unfair to her sister.

Palliza nodded. “Often the eggs from previously bonded Aya’Chyn are passed down to the children of their bondmates. Wild bondings were rare nearing the…” She hesitated, “Near the end.”

She clucked to the creepy flying lizard as it crawled up onto the table, inspecting the table for food. The critter hissed in displeasure when she scooped it up into her arms and twitted its nose. Something occurred to Raina.

“But if my Grandmother had this Will thing, where was it? Did she really just jump to Earth and hope for the best?” She gasped when Palliza looked up at her soberly, still gently holding the malcontent lizard.

“She just left? Did she just kill her Will or did she have some sort of plan?” Raina felt a panic at the mere thought of abandoning her Aya’Chyn, let alone murdering her. “What kind of fucked up person was my grandmother?!”

Raina could not coincide the loving woman she had grown up with to the image her brain was beginning to construct. But as Palliza’s silence built along with her unease, Raina began to think of the callous treatment towards her sister when she had been gifted Luna.

“I, to this day, do not know what became of Panillia and Chayla after they crossed the Mirror. You are the only indication that she survived.”

Raina felt overwhelmed, she laid her head in her hands. Growing up, she had never considered that her grandmother was anything but a perfect, loving, and wonderful woman. She was attentive to everyone in the family, yet…

Yet Raina remembered numerous instances when Panillia’s attention seemed to be exclusively for her benefit. Oh, she had loved her sister and mother. But G’ma Pani had always seemed to have something a little extra for Raina, and Raina had just taken it as her due.

“I can’t process this. She was always so wonderful to me and my sister.” And Raina looked up to see a flit of surprise across Palliza’s face.

“You- you had a sister?” Palliza brought her fingers to her lips, then cut her hand away sharply. “It doesn’t matter now. I see no way for you to cross back without-“ The old woman trailed off, scowling.

“What?” Rania’s voice squeaked.

Palliza stood up abruptly, Toru-ki creeling in pique as he was displaced. “I will discuss this with you after reflection. My main concern now is teaching you the native language along with control of your Will and nascent abilities to prevent another… mishap.” She held up a hand as Raina opened her mouth.

“You may explore the grounds and the house, but any further than the stone wall will require an escort for safety. I live in a remote area in the Wilding.” Palliza smiled.

“His understanding of Darkuni is mediocre at best, but I hope you will replace my grandson Jrash an acceptable companion when he returns from Ascullia with the items required for your training.”

Raina gawped. “Like a magic wand?”

Palliza raised an eyebrow. “A wand? What a novel idea. No, specifically paper and writing utensils, and hopefully a teaching slate so we do not waste good paper.”

Raina opened and closed her mouth. “What does that have to do with anything?” She jumped as her Aya’Chyn flowed over the windowsill and chirruped at her.

The woman laughed, a bell like resonance. “How else will you be taught a new language or study the theory of the use of your Will?”