The Odd Dragon Out: Reckoning of the Cinder-Born

The wide, verdant fields illuminated by the reddish sun suddenly seemed less impressive. Less neat.

The First Years scattered around them gave the false impression that they were about to play some kind of sport, when in actuality, they were chatting excitedly while trying to use their Kardia.

By now, the buzz over Caron and Ginger had mellowed, but was yet to truly die out. Ginger's case especially, had several Professors keeping their eyes on him and discussing what the plump dragonling could only assume were possible answers as to why he had such strange Kardia, in low voices.

The Second Burning hadn't produced another anomaly after Ginger. The highlights after him were more depressing than surprising, as several students had gotten too... excited.

Two dragonlings had managed to damage their second hearts by fidgeting while within the great golden fire. Their screams told of the agony they paid their folly with.

Professor Lyall had responded promptly, diving into the fire and drawing both students before much damage could be done.

To demonstrate that whatever injury was sustained to the second heart wasn't irreversible, the students were healed and returned for another attempt at their Burning quickly.

None of the spectating First Years had seen how this worked exactly, as the injured students were taken away for the process, but they were reassured nonetheless.

Professor Lyall had then lead all the students to the open school fields after the Burning, with most of the other Professors leaving for other duties.

Now, the hundreds of dragonlings were freestyling with their newly awakened Kardia, which could finally be pumped out of their bodies.

The sensation, even for dragons, was rather peculiar at first.

Feeling as though your second heart was being tickled from the inside, was almost certainly hard to shrug off, but adrenaline and childish confidence allowed each dragonling to fight off the urge to laugh or poke their chest in irritation.

Professor Lyall was allowing the children to experiment in various ways with their Kardia before lecturing them about specifics they would need to learn.

It would do them well to recognise for themselves how different types of Kardia reacted when they made a conscious attempt at moving them around.

Ginger and Reiss were abusing this chance like everyone. The dark haired, slightly plump dragonling with a pewter grey uniform much too tight for his body, and his friend, blue eyed, short and with a full head of chocolate brown hair that began a little late from his forehead, were inseparable.

Reiss closed his eyes to feel the sensation in his second heart.

Almost immediately, a light, smoky haze with a faint blue hue wafted from his body, gathering around his hands.

"Whoa..." Ginger said in awe. He could see the Kardia as well.

"It... it feels funny around my hands..." the diminutive dragon said with a big smile, looking between Ginger and his hands. "It's like I'm running my hands through steam."

"Your Kardia moves fast," the plump dragonling complimented.

"Oh yeah. My Kardia's flow was fastest in my group for the First Burning," Reiss said with nigh palpable pride.

Other First Years also whipped their heads to Reiss in surprise, most of them being those that had difficulty summoning their Kardia.

Reiss scoffed at the attention and then turned back to the Kardia around his fingers.

"It's not moving further from my body," he said, and then his large eyes sparkled. "Of course!"

Reiss slotted his hand in his pocket and drew a coin.

Excitedly, he watched the bluish haze rush from around his hands and cling to the coin, forming a vibrant, bold stroke around it.

"Whoa!" Both Ginger and Reiss exclaimed.

"It's really attracted to objects I touch!"

Ginger blinked and nodded.

Affix-type Kardia was certainly cool, but what about his own?

He immediately turned his focus to his second heart.

He felt the Kardia sitting at its center.

It tickled.

More and more of it was flowing from his stok into his heart, and as it pumped, Ginger felt as though the Kardia was trying to flow through the rest of his body but couldn't for some reason.

He imagined that this would take practice.

'They all feel so different,' he thought. 'Fetid felt more like... porridge. Mana Essence feels like water. And now Kardia... it's like smoke...'

With a forceful pull, he tried to make his Kardia flow out.

The result was... excessive.

In that one instance, Ginger's stok was nearly emptied.

He felt a burst of the Kardia rush from his heart, then to his arms, his throat and legs.

"I did it," he said with glee, but...

"Ginger!" Reiss called anxiously.

A small flood of light blue smoky Kardia shot from Ginger's fingers viciously, as though eager to flee from his body. As it did, a gust of wind pushed against the immediate surroundings and even blasted a few students before him, forcing them to stagger forward and back.

Ginger panicked.

He hurriedly willed the Kardia to stop gushing it, and it followed his command in an instant – the little he had, that was. The Kardia stopped at his palm and began pooling within them, forming a small clump that felt like a marble deep within his flesh.

"Good grief, man! What was that?" Reiss asked with a befuddled expression.

"I...don't know..." Ginger said, stunned.

The victims of his 'attack' turned to him, those who already didn't like him either because of his unusual Kardia or his hybrid identity giving him hostile glares.

Ginger smiled sheepishly at them.

Reiss hurried to touch Ginger's hands. He squinted his eyes as though he could see the Kardia that had retreated into his flesh.

"Whoa, Ginger. Your Kardia really does have two kinds of behaviour," he said, his eyes not leaving the plump dragonling's palms.

"Really?" Ginger said, his mind drifting to the activity in his body.

"Yeah. I can feel it... I think. As far as I know, Alien-type Kardia is usually eager to free itself from the body. It's easy to project out. I think your Kardia just did exactly that, and then... its gathering into a small shape right now, isn't it? I feel your hands growing tougher than usual."

"Yes. It's my palm," Ginger said with a bit of a frown.

The Kardia almost seemed to solidify, and it hurt a little. Beyond that though, if Ginger didn't know any better, he'd think...

"I think I've already exhausted it all. The Kardia in my palms is all that's left."

Reiss looked surprised.

"Really? Already?" he said. "Do you remember how your First Burning went?"

When Reiss pointed this out, Ginger was instantly smitten with realization.

'That's right. The lantern thing showed that I have a very small amount...' he thought, remembering the result from the Othoni-Kardia which he hadn't seen again since that first day.

Right.

But hadn't he also felt like he had so much Kardia within his stok that he could literally explode?

Ginger's face turned dark. His exhaustion found leeway to make him yawn involuntarily.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to have less than the standard amount of Kardia. So I guess it makes sense..." Ginger told Reiss sullenly.

The dwarfish dragonling nodded with a thoughtful look on his face.

At that moment, there was a bit of a commotion.

A whipping wind blew, and the two boys turned toward its source.

It was Vassilis.

The other First Years were drawn in.

Around the dragonling, the air seemed to warp, whirl, and wail, making those close to him draw away in fear.

The blue haze around Vassilis was solid, laid around him in a bold stroke that shone dully. He took it all in, his eyes shut and his head hung low.

For some reason, everything seemed to dread the glow of his Kardia, so much so that even the light around him seemed to dim.

Reiss frowned at this. As did Ginger.

"Doesn't he have Affix type Kardia like mine?" he asked quietly.

Indeed, Vassilis and Reiss shared the same Kardia type, but the latter, even while asking, already knew why there was a disparity.

It was because of quality.

Ginger gulped.

'It's so strong. I can feel it from here,' he thought while looking over the crowd of students before him.

Professor Lyall raised a brow at the display. It was unknown what she thought about it.

Vassilis seemed to have been unaware that he had caused such a scene, because the moment he looked around him, he looked a little taken aback. His Kardia instantly dissolved back into his body.

Before the students could begin theorizing and showering Vassilis with praises and questions – those slower than Fillys and Alcaeus, who had already rushed to him, that is – Professor Lyall grabbed everyone's attention.

"Alright," she said, and clapped loudly, which forced all the First Years to turn to her, mostly in fear of being frozen like before.

"I believe you all have gotten acquainted with your Kardia to a sufficient degree. If not, perhaps the few things I am about to explain and demonstrate will shed more light for you."

Ginger was still a little distracted, but he paid attention. He doubted anything that was about to be said could remedy his lack of at least an average amount of Kardia, but he couldn't do anything but listen.

Professor Lyall's lips drew taut, then she blew a soft breath at the scattered students.

Appalling as it may have been, it happened. It was no illusion.

All the students' faces turned pale.

A soft breeze blew by all of them, and as it passed, it washed away all their Kardia, dragging it along.