The train ride, and my conversation about my mental contact with Hedwig, seemed to go by all in a rush. Hedwig sat beside me on the seat and I could feel her and hear her thoughts regarding everything from what we were saying to the landscape flowing by outside the train.
Addera looked on with a passive expression. I was sure, half the time, she didn't even realize she was expressing herself with her face. Snakes certainly couldn't, but her face wasn't that of a snake anymore. Her ears were the biggest tell she had—flicking around to track sounds, turning to the sides if she was relaxed, or folding back when she was annoyed (annoyed in a friendly way, not annoyed in a serious way). "And how do you feel about this link, Harry Potter?"
"I kinda like it, but we both need to keep our boundaries a little. She got really excited last night about catching that mouse, and I couldn't stop her from showing me—until I managed to ask her." Closing my eyes, I tried to mentally reach toward Hedwig. What do you think about it?
'I like it.'
I snorted at that. "Hedwig says she likes it. She doesn't say much most of the time. I mean, a lot of things at once. She keeps to short sentences."
"'Most of the time', Harry Potter? She has spoken at length?"
"Well, she normally says a few words, but she said a lot more earlier on." I thought back to what she'd said. "Maybe ten words."
'I prefer short sentences. I can say more with less.'
I know you can.
Hedwig made a happy whistling sound that carried no direct words, but did well to let me know what she thought of my praise.
"Ten words is hardly at length, Harry Potter."
I'd never heard any other snakes talk the way Addera did—always using my full name. I wonder if it was a basilisk thing, or just a her thing?
'Probably just her.'
She doesn't do it for everyone. It's mostly just me.
'Then it's definitely just her.'
Why would you say that? Just because she's only doing it for me?
Hedwig only whistled in response. Well, if she wouldn't tell me more, it was time to ask the source. "She puts a lot into ten words. Addera, why do you keep using my full name?"
I had her full attention. Her ears perked forward and she turned more of herself to face me. "I think you already know the answer to that, Harry Potter."
Groaning at her reply, I reached a hoof up to rub at the back of Hedwig's neck—right where I felt an itch from her. "You make a great witch, you know that?" I said to Addera.
"Compliments will get you everywhere, Harry Potter."
'Do you want to see me hunt now?'
"I think I'm going to lay down so Hedwig can show me her hunting from earlier. She's really excited about it." I lowered my chest down to the soft seat and got comfortable. Hedwig jumped up on my back and I felt Addera's tail start coiling around me when I was flying.
'Is this okay?'
Yes! This is great! Where are we going?
'Over here! Look! A mouse!'
'We're stopping.'
I felt like I was diving into a lake—or out of one. Hedwig's world and everything she experienced seemed to flow away and off me as I splashed into my own body again. Yawning, I looked up to see Addera coiled around me while Hedwig was somewhere on my back.
Outside the train, it looked like there were miles and miles of red rocks and sand. Small bushes here and there only made it look worse—like some kind of desert. "Where are we?"
"This is the end of the line," Twilight Sparkle said. "We have to go on hoof from here. I'm not sure exactly where they are, but I at least know what direction."
Looking over at her, I adjusted my glasses and saw she'd picked up her pack and was putting it on with her magic. It was still amazing to see that much magic being used for such a simple thing. I wonder what would happen if I just threw all my magic into one thing.
Actually, I remember what happened when I tried with fire. Being a wizard inside a train might be a bad idea.
Climbing out of Addera's tail was always a difficult process. Her coils weren't moving much right now, but I knew how quick she would act if she didn't want something to leave her grip. I climbed slowly to the highest coil her tail made, then bunched my limbs under me and jumped off—at the same time the train lurched to a full stop.
Shouting with excitement, I adjusted my flight and twisted so that I would land on a seat two up from where I'd meant to land. It was the best landing ever, and I had no idea how I'd done it.
'You twisted in the air'
Yeah, I kinda worked that out, but I don't know how I did that. Maybe it's a kirin thing. Stepping down from the seat as if I'd meant the whole acrobatics show, I trotted back to where Twilight and Addera were.
Addera looked down at me with a little smile on her snout. "Are you alright, Harry Potter?"
"Yeah. Just getting my footing." And not losing my balance while a train is stopping. "How long will it take to find the kirin?"
Hedwig hopped off the chair and onto my back as I walked past the chair we'd been on. 'You don't complain about my claws.'
Yeah. Like this your claws don't hurt me, so hold on as tight as you want.
"We're just not sure. We have directions and a map that shows a swamp and some kind of mesa to the east. Without knowing how quickly we'll get through the terrain, or what we might run into along the way, I can't really say how long. Spike packed us enough food for a week, though." Twilight revealed two large packs and floated one to Addera.
In turn, Addera passed me the pack we'd brought with us. Can you help me get it on right? With Hedwig's help, I got my old school backpack on without using a spell, and we headed out.
'I'm hungry.'
Not wasting any words, Hedwig shoved down on my back and launched herself into the air on silent wings.
"Good hunting!"
The swamp should have been difficult and annoying to get through. There was sucking mud everywhere, and any creature with four legs or two should have been doomed.
"Are you alright, Twilight?" I asked for what felt like the hundredth time.
We were sitting side by side in Addera's arms. It had been a simple Shrinking charm that reduced her to a little smaller than me—small enough that Addera could carry us both through the swamp.
Creatures with legs had trouble in swamps, but snakes (without legs) had no problem.
"I hate to think how long this would have taken if we'd walked. I'd love to learn how you did this magic so easily. It was like you didn't use any magic at all." She always sounded so upbeat. She had no idea how our spells worked, and had magic of her own, but that didn't seem to stop her from wanting to learn more.
"It's just how we do magic. I guess seeing you use so much to do simple things is amazing too. Maybe we could teach each other some spells?" A magic lesson, particularly in using some of the powerful magic I'd seen ponies use, would definitely make me more of a wizard.
"Are you both comfortable?" Addera's question was notable because she didn't use my full name.
Twilight seemed impervious to Addera's sarcasm. "You can learn too. I don't think we can start on spells yet, anyway. We'd need to learn each other's magic system first. So, the way we learn how to do magic is we start with exercises. Close your eyes."
I closed my eyes as she said.
"Now, breathe in slowly, and as you do, picture yourself inhaling magic and gathering it in your stomach."
I tried. I slowly breathed in, but I couldn't feel anything. "I don't feel it."
"You don't have to. Not right away. Just keep imagining it. Magic is built-up by patterns and repetition."
That got my attention. "Patterns? Repetition? That's how our magic works. People using patterns to make the spells do the same thing they've always done."
Twilight shuffled around a little in Addera's grip. "That's not exactly what I mean. Magic, at its base level, just wants to fit itself to patterns. We make spells by imagining patterns with our minds and letting our magic flow into them."
"Huh?"
"That isn't how you cast spells?" Twilight asked.
"Not exactly. We have different things we do to make them happen. Incantations, wand patterns, gestures with our hands, and most importantly we need the will to make them happen." As I said them, I started to think more on the mechanics of it. "Wait, are they like patterns?"
"Sounds like our magic isn't so dissimilar after all. Back to breathing. Close your eyes and breathe in again."
I closed my eyes and let her guide my breathing. She started with just breathing in and out again, then moved on to visualizing stuff again.
"Each breath in pulls magic into you. Hold that breath and let the magic flow up and into your horn. Breathe out and let your magic flow out of your horn."
"Keep going. Breathe in."
When I inhaled my next breath—trying to picture magic entering me—something different happened. It was a small amount at first, but as I deepened my breath, more magic rushed in.
I felt it dance over my lips and down my throat. When it filled me out inside, I almost trembled with how it felt.
"Let it flow up to your horn now. Feel it move through you."
The rush of magic that'd filled me did move. It poured up through me and into my horn, and I was startled by how right it felt. The potential seemed to sit there in my horn peacefully.
It was nothing like what I did when I turned nirik. I could have sat motionless like that all day.
"Now breathe out. Let the magic flow from your horn and leave you."
A yellow glow began just above my eyes as I started to exhale. I felt the magic flow back out, pouring from me in a storm-wind of power. Like when I'd seen any unicorn use magic, there was this rush of power that was extra intense because I'd made it.
"One more. Breathe in."
This time the magic wasn't as strong, but I felt it there again. I refocused on my breathing. Holding my breath and letting the magic flow into my horn, and then letting it back out again.
"There. How did that feel?" Twilight asked.
"What did you do? I really felt magic that time!" I snapped my eyes open to see Addera was nearing what looked like the edge of the swamp.
"For the penultimate time, I fed you magic so you would know what it feels like to do, but that last one was all yours. That was your own magic you were using."
"Penulti…?" I hadn't heard the word before, though it sounded familiar.
"It means second last." She didn't say it with condescension or anything. "You should try doing this exercise as much as you can, it will strengthen your magic reserves and teach you channeling."
Furrowing my brow, I tried to focus on continuing the breathing exercise. "We don't do this when we do magic. How's that different?"
"I'll need to do some research on it. Do you want to help me?"
Sitting up a little straighter in Addera's grip, I felt really excited about the prospect. "That'd be great! What do you need me to do?"
"We'll probably need to be somewhere a little more sterile, magically speaking. It's odd that there aren't any predators around here. I expected to see a fly-der or two at least." Twilight looked and acted completely comfortable with what was going on. Even wizards and witches wouldn't be this relaxed.
Addera let out a hissing chuckle that made me giggle along with her. "There are certain advantages in traveling with a large predator, Twilight Sparkle—the smaller ones tend to keep out of their way."
Looking a little confused, Twilight arched her head to look up at Addera. "Large predator?"
I managed to stop my giggling long enough to gesture to Addera with a hoof. "She's talking about herself. Snakes are all predators, remember. Unless there's something big enough or dangerous enough to take on a snake Addera's size, then we might get to watch her do her eye-thing."
"The mind-control thing? I must admit, it's not a topic I've explored. It wasn't like Princess Celestia's school was going to have lessons on taking over Equestria with magic," Twilight said.
"Princess Celestia's school? She runs the country and teaches?" It seemed crazy. I mean, I was pretty sure Dumbledore or McGonagall didn't take time out of their day of teaching to run down the parliament and—and do whatever it was the PM did.
"Well, she wasn't teaching all the time. We had three classes a week with her." She was blushing a little—I could practically hear her winding up to say more. "Well, for the class. She was my personal mentor."
"The end of the swamp is ahead, Harry Potter, Twilight Sparkle." At Addera's words, Twilight seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Was she embarrassed about being the personal student of the country's leader?
Thinking on the subject had reminded me that I'd been expected to be chased down. Had no one noticed me missing, or were they chasing after us at this exact moment? Addera dumped Twilight and myself onto the dry ground just past the muck of the swamp.
Pointing my horn at Twilight, I barked out the incantation to reverse the Shrinking charm with an Engorgement charm. The odd thing was, these were meant to be hard spells to work on a person, but they seemed far easier than even the ones we'd practiced in class.
Maybe I was just that good of a wizard now, or perhaps it was this world's magic being so much easier to cast. I'm sure it's one of those things—maybe both.
Twilight stretched and turned around to Addera. "Thanks for carrying us. Can I do anything for you? Maybe wash all the mud off?"
Not that I'd seen her do much apart from save the world, but it turned out Twilight was pretty handy with spells herself. She did something with her horn that caused lots and lots of water to shoot from it.
Every time I saw her do magic, I was reminded that I should be practicing that breathing exercise. I managed to get through a few before Twilight was done washing Addera.
"So now what?" I asked.
"Now we have to go up. The Peaks of Peril were specifically where the kirin live, and that's up there." Twilight pointed up to the cliffs nearby. Huge and angry-red, the cliffs were topped by what looked like some kind of trees.
Arching my neck to look up at the top of the cliffs, I had a big question. "So how do we get up there?"
Albus Dumbledore stepped through the hole in the wall behind the painting of the fat lady and closed it again behind him. A little shorter, a little stranger, but he still wore a bright smile as he walked down the hall toward the Gryffindor common room.
Spotting a familiar face (even though every student in the school was familiar, Albus was glad in particular to spot one of the older students), Albus cleared his throat. "Lee? Go and let everyone know I want them all in the common room for a meeting."
Walking up to the fireplace, Albus found a salamander sitting on a big log. "Well, hello there. Enjoying yourself?" Refraining from reaching in to pet the creature with a hoof, Albus instead took up the fire poker (with a simple Locomotion charm) to give it a scratch under its chin.
The residents of Gryffindor house began arriving in small clumps. Albus remained focused on the salamander, however, his affinity with fire making the creature far more interesting to him than it would to a less eccentric wizard.
Walking into the common room, George Weasley paused at the sight of Professor Dumbledore playing with his pet, Ember.
"Here, don't look now George, but the headma—professor is playing with your pet." Fred elbowed his brother in the shoulder with a foreleg.
"Lee said it was just a meeting, but I'm pretty sure this is it. We'll be taken 'ome." George took a deep breath and walked toward Albus. "'Ello, professor, thanks again for the—"
"George Weasley." Albus liked saying the Weasley family name. He'd been saying it to various get of Arthur and Molly Weasley for a wonderful amount of time. "Do you have Ginevra with you?" Which is why it hurt so much to almost lose one in such a fashion.
"She asked for our Ron to carry her home." Fred settled down on the couch beside his brother and warmed his hooves before the fire. "Are we going back now?"
Albus let out a sigh. "Every student who is not graduating will need to return." He flicked his eyes to the growing mass of students in the common room. Gryffindor was mostly assembled, though there was one face in particular he was still missing.
Spotting Ron and Hermione, Albus set the poker back on its rack and stood up again. "Ronald Weasley, Miss Granger, have you seen Harry Potter?"
Ron looked to his brothers, then to Hermione, and finally back to Albus. "S-Sir, I haven't seen him all day. He—"
"He's gone, professor. He left with Addera yesterday morning." Hermione hadn't grown out of her no-shades-of-gray sense of the world, and that meant what Harry was doing was wrong. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at Ron.
Turning to face Hermione, Ron stared at her as if she'd gone insane and started claiming quidditch was inferior to football. "You really are the worst sometimes. Why'd you have t' go and sell him out so quickly?"
Albus stared for a moment. It took all his years of experience to not yell but maintain his typical calm exterior. "Ronald Weasley, while I can fully understand your wanting to protect your friend, you should have let me know immediately. Miss Granger, I'll want to talk to you immediately following this meeting."
It was going to be a trying time, Albus realized. Centering himself around the here and now, he turned to look at the students of Gryffindor as a whole. "I've just come from a meeting with the Ministry of Magic's wizards and the rulers of this realm, and we're all in agreement that students must be escorted back to their families as soon as we're able."
Knowing his students, and knowing Gryffindor particularly, Albus paused to let them get their grumbling out of the way. He looked toward Ron and saw the young man look a little guilty. Childhood friendships were often built on odd notions of honor, Albus knew, and he'd seen Ron's resolve harden since the day he'd left Harry to face a fight alone. "Thank goodness for sensible young witches," he said under his breath.
Clearing his throat, Albus heard silence descend back upon the room. "All students who were graduating this year will be afforded the choice to make their own minds up, but the rest will have to return to their families. This is not negotiable." He knew all too well that some of his students would take that as a challenge. That's when it occurred to him how far ahead of the curve Harry Potter was. "Any of you who are eligible and wish to stay, please follow me, but the rest of you—Please begin packing your things."
"Sir?" George had already drawn straws with his twin and had come up (despite cheating) as the loser. "What about next year?"
Albus smiled at that. "That you're thinking of the future speaks well of you, Mr. Weasley. We hope to keep Hogwarts open to students for as long as there is a Hogwarts. Both Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor have granted us the opportunity to continue teaching." The news was a delight for Albus to deliver, in all senses of the word.
"But how would we get 'ere?" Fred asked.
"When we find out the details, we'll forward them to all prospective students." Looking to Hermione, Albus gave a little nod. "Now I must be leaving. I look forward to teaching many of you next year."
Walking through the common room, Albus made his way to the corridor that led back to the entrance of Gryffindor tower. Though his stride was long and purposeful, Albus could hear a pair of swift hooves clopping on the floor after him. "Miss Granger, I need you to tell me everything you know about where Harry has gone."
"Well…" Hermione launched herself into the description of what she'd found out—that Harry had left with Addera and Twilight Sparkle, and they were all going looking for Equestrian kirin.
"You're not a dragon and they're not dragons either." Torch had developed two things that made him a better than usual conversationalist: a thick skin (literally and figuratively) and patience—both of which were the reason why he wasn't looking to remain Dragon Lord for much longer.
Running the hatching grounds was a job for younger dragons. It had been the way of dragons for thousands of years to leave their children to watch over and teach the next generation. Adult dragons knew of their own failings, and though it galled them to admit even to themselves, those failings made them poor leaders.
But Dragon Lord Torch felt he had at least one big adventure still in store for him, and this creature and his two pets were definitely the signs of impending adventure.
Charles Weasley tried to ignore the odd tingling in his fingers. The simplest spell had made his hands itch, and though he hadn't cast anything since Whistlewing and Norbert's breakfasts, he couldn't deny there was definitely something odd about the magic in the world he'd landed in.
"They are dragons, they're just not—" Charlie stopped himself before he dove back into that argument again. The dragon before him was more dragon than he'd seen or heard about in his life. Torch was the length of a London bus if he was an inch. "Earth dragons." Inspiration made him smile and cast off hours of very poor argument. "Let's call them Earth Dragons, that way you guys are much different—being true dragons."
Rake breathed a sigh of relief and more than a little sulfur. She'd been the one who'd brought Charlie to the Dragon Lord, and for the first hour she'd regretted every second of the act. Now, however, things seemed to be reaching an agreement on what to call each other—something she hadn't thought was possible an hour earlier.
Laying on a sun-heated rock beside Torch, Rake had lost most of her initial interest in Charlie during the course of the discussion. "So you worked out what they are. What now?"
"And what did Inferno suggest?" Torch asked.
"He wanted to bite them all in half and see if they had crunchy centers." Some times Rake regretted being related to Inferno.
"And what do you think we should do with them?"
"Well, the upright one knows magic. It's kinda-sorta pony magic, but not really. I saw him waving a stick around as if it were as dangerous as a unicorn horn. The other two are kinda just really stupid and really weak dragons." Rake looked Charlie up and down. "Eh. If they can get their own food, they can stay. It's not like they're going to eat any of our gems."
Torch liked the sense Rake was making. Part of him was curious to know how well she'd do if he held a Gauntlet to see who would be the next Dragon Lord. The problem, he knew, was that there were faster dragons, braver dragons, and even stronger dragons than her. There was also a smarter dragon, but he was still working on his daughter to pull her out of the why isn't everything food? phase.
"A fair assessment. They're not our food, and we're too tough to be their food. What about you, Charlie, what do you think?" The urge to yawn hit Torch. As he got older, his metabolism would adjust itself around short bursts of action. Being active and cognizant every day would become a chore too hard for him to maintain.
Not that he'd show the dragons of the Dragon Lands that until his daughter was ready to fight her own challenge for the Gauntlet.
"You're asking me if you should drive us off?" It was a little incredulous to Charlie, but the world he'd landed in was nothing if not incredible.
"Yes." Torch held up one claw and picked a hunk of obsidian out from under it. Of the dragons living in the Dragon Lands, he was the biggest and oldest. "If I agree, I will make the decision a decree."
Charlie had been introduced to Torch as the Dragon Lord, but the way he spoke cemented how important he was to their society. "Okay, so first, all the points you made were good ones, but there's more. I have magic, and I don't mind using it to help dragons if you need something. Also"—Charlie had to close his eyes and focus on not losing his cool—"I have spent most of my life studying and helping dragons—Earth dragons. From the moment I first saw how amazing they were, I wanted to help them survive.
"Where I'm from, dragons—Earth dragons—are hunted for wand ingredients and by those who don't understand why they should be protected. They get seen as monsters and worse. Studying and helping dragons is what I've dedicated my life to."
"Well." Inhaling the oxygen rich air of the outer dens, Torch let it react in his lungs with his own fire and breathed out twin plumes of sulfur and hydrocarbon-rich air that bellowed into the sky like the twin smoke-stacks of an 18-wheeler truck accelerating. "I believe you. There have been ponies who have come with such conviction, and some of them were even counted as friends to dragons—they're part of the reason why we are at peace with the ponies. You have magic. Good. We have strength. Also good. Let's have magic and strength together."
As Torch spoke the last words, he leaned his willpower into the Bloodstone Scepter and let it carry his intent to the dragons of Dragon Lands.
"Rake. You're in charge of him. You are his strength. He is your magic. If either of you argue about it, I kill you both." Stretching his wings out and bunching his back legs, Torch launched himself into the air and left Charlie and Rake to look nervously at each other.
"Did he mean that? Killing us if we don't get along seems a bit—" Charlie fished for a word.
"That's Dragon Lord Torch for you. Smart dragon, but he didn't become Dragon Lord by showing weakness. So, you know magic?" Rake looked around for something interesting to do magic on. "Can you, like, blow anything up with it?"
The idea of telling Rake that he wasn't certain how much he'd be able to use his magic came and went quickly. Showing a dragon fear was right up there on the list of What Not to Do Around Dragons, even if that list was only meant to apply to Earth dragons. "Yeah, but why should I waste magic?"
Rake snorted. "Something up with it? You said something about coming from another world. Is Equestrian magic different? Weaker?"
"Different. Stronger. I could probably do a lot more with this, but—" Charlie reached a hand up to his hair and used it to push back the front of his hair. "When I made some meat up for Norbert and Whistlewing last night, this started. It was only soreness at first, but when I fed them earlier it grew to this."
"A horn is a good sign. Maybe you're turning into a dragon?" Walking over to Charlie, Rake completely ignored any perception of personal space the human might have clung to and grabbed his head to inspect him. "Just one though. Not many dragons have just one horn."
Charlie could have wrenched his head out of the grip of a giant vice easier than Rake's claws. It wasn't just that her whole body seemed to be muscle that was stronger than any muscle on any Earth creature (mundane or magic), but also that her talons were tipped with claws that could probably shred his flesh quicker than he could blink.
Waiting until she let go, Charlie shook his head to settle his hair again. "So what do you think it is?"
"You want to know what I think it is, or what I'll tell everyone who sees it?" Dusting off her talons, Rake bent down to pick up a piece of shale she hadn't noticed before. "Because it looks like a unicorn horn, but I'm totally telling everyone it's a dragon horn. If they think you're turning into a kind of pony, I'll be busting heads all day long."
"Unicorn? Pony? I heard the dragon lord mention them before, too. What's the deal?" When Rake stared at him as if he were stupid, Charlie rolled his eyes. "New to this world, remember?"
"Oh, right. Ponies live over that way." Gesturing with her wing, Rake couldn't believe she had to explain everything to Charlie. "Lots of them. Some dragons think we should go and push them around, but Torch says they out number us about a thousand to one, and about a third of them have magic.
"Now, dragons are fairly resistant to magic, but we have our limits. Also, we kinda suck at working together, and that's kinda the pony thing, you know?"
"Big nation that tolerates others, despite being strong opponents? That's kinda awesome. Back home, when two nations were the least bit different, they'd throw soldiers at each other until they decided it was a bad idea." Charlie left it ambiguous as to which side he meant as big nation. "So, what do you think dragons need magic for?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Rake made a noncommittal noise from deep in her throat that was somewhere between an industrial engine starting and a rockslide. "How would I know? What can magic do?"
Charlie interpreted the sound as the equivalent of a grunt. "Yeah, that's the problem. Magic can do a lot of stuff, but it's mostly stuff you guys don't really use. Wait, you eat stone, right?"
"Not just 'stone'. We eat gems, mostly. Why?"
"Show me where you keep yours." The moment Charlie said it, he knew he'd stepped over a line. Rake's expression had gone from vague disinterest to anger. She had height, strength, and near invulnerability to magic on her side, yet Charlie was used to standing up to dragons who could crush him if they thought hard about it. "Let me guess, dragons here hoard things?"
Narrowing her eyes, Rake glared at Charlie. "Your dragons don't?"
"No. Okay, so I get that you won't show me where your gems are. Just get me one and I'll show you something I can do." Careful to keep his voice angry, Charlie racked his mind to call up the specific spell he wanted.
Rake prided herself on being able to out-think all the other dragons she knew, but when Charlie had just outright asked her to show him her hoard, she'd lost her cool. There was exactly two reasons a dragoness would show a dragon her hoard, and she didn't like Charlie in either of those ways. "Wait here and try not to get eaten. And don't ask to see a dragon's hoard, okay?"
What startled Charlie was the blush on Rake's cheeks (it wasn't red, but blue). His mind raced with what asking to see her hoard meant to her—so much so that she was back before he'd even tried to remember the Doubling charm.
"Here. If you break it, I break you." It wasn't Rake's biggest gem—not by far—but it was still one out of her personal hoard. She didn't trust Charlie completely, but one tiny gem being lost wouldn't be something to enter a killing rage over. Besides, she didn't actually like malachite.
Drawing his wand, Charlie set the huge (to him) gemstone on the ground and pointed his wand at it. Preparing himself, his mind raced to bring back the incantation and the other patterns he needed to use. At last he let magic roll down his arm and to his wand, and cast Geminio.
Unlike pony magic, there was no flashy light and no singing—which suited Rake just fine. When nothing seemed to happen, she opened her mouth to berate Charlie when her gem flipped itself over. "What'd you do to—" She froze as the gem popped and produced a duplicate of itself. "No, magma, way!"
Reaching down, Rake picked both gems up in her talons—one in each hand. "Hold up. This one is…" She tossed the gem into her mouth and bit down on it. It had all the crunch of a regular gem, and all the taste, but there was something not quite there. "That was the copy, right?"
"Yes. These copies don't normally hold up as well long-term, but they should last awhile. It was just as tasty as normal, right?" Excitement made Charlie step closer and reach his hand out for the gemstone.
For a moment Rake hesitated. Her draconic instincts were strong, and they screamed at her that this lesser beast was trying to steal part of her hoard. She was, however, too excited to eat more of the gems to let her instincts get the better of her. "How much can you make at once?"
"Why, are you hungry for junk food?" Not failing to notice the slight hesitation, Charlie held the gem carefully in his hand. "Okay, so my magic seems to be working just fine. Let's see if breaking the spell works too."
"Hold on. If you're going to make lots of them, at least make one that I like. I'll be back quick." Rake was so excited to get more gems for Charlie to copy, she completely forgot about the one he still held.