Chương 11: Episode Two Hundred and Fifty-Five: Lorestone's Feelings

Indigo's eyes widened as she spotted the items on the counter.

"Oh, what did I miss?"

"Figured out our first customer without the Cat," I said with a grin. His spot remained empty on the counter, and I missed him, but we had done it.

"So pretty." She landed next to the ivory comb and nudged it with a claw. Her head tilted one way, then the other, before turning toward me.

"Lorestone is confused." That was a change of topic. At least I now knew where he had gone: to Indigo's hideaway.

"Is he okay?" I asked quietly.

"He says he isn't a dragon, but he looks like a dragon and smells like dragon magic, but he can't move." She folded her wings tight to her body.

"You are a dragon, but not a dragon, but Lady Sable." I leaned against the counter, letting my brain work before I opened my mouth and stuck a foot in it.

"I am Lady Sable, a kin of dragons, but I am still human." A tingle raced through my hands as soon as I said Lady Sable, and increased as I mentioned kin of dragons. My magic liked that.

"Magic human," muttered Indigo, shaking her wings out.

"Should be a dragon… But Lorestone… How do we help him?" I opened my mouth, then closed it. I didn't know how to help Lorestone. The magic involved stretched outside anything I understood, not that I knew a ton about magic. Thankfully, my magic so far worked on intention.

"We ask him how to help." I closed my eyes for a moment and reached out to my surroundings, using my magic sense. Indigo sat on the counter, and when I reached out farther, magic funneled in from the cat door upstairs. Lorestone sat farther away than that. A solid, unmoving presence that resonated with me. My eyes snapped open as magic trickled in from the front door. I straightened up, then stepped around the counter to get a better feel for it.

A small amount of magic, not as much as from the Cat's domain, but some came in from the door. It appeared like always, but outside the window the street remained from when the redhead had entered.

"I'll get Lorestone," Indigo said, before she took off from the counter. Thankfully, she left the ivory comb behind. I waved at her as she went by, but was focused on trying to figure out how to recreate the connection to the mana source from the front door. I realized the combined streams were taking some of the load off me. Even though I still felt the draw of Betty pulling on my core, it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been. That was good, it gave me at least some free magic of my own to work with.

Ideas formed in the back of my mind as I released a wave of golden magic from my hand. It washed over the door, and something about the threshold tickled at the back of my mind.

"Lady Sable," said Lorestone, as he appeared on the wooden counter, rising from below.

"I apologize for requesting time alone." I spun about, still feeling Indigo in her space.

"You have nothing to apologize for. Absolutely nothing." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Before I thought about it, I sat behind the counter with him in front of me.

"I asked Indigo to give us a few minutes to speak," said Lorestone.

"The bond between us has changed."

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to understand what he meant.

"During the attempt at translating the book from the Fates, I think I pulled on your magic when…" He went quiet for a moment, but I didn't rush him.

"When it started to hurt me." All I wanted to do was hug him. I only resisted since he was a stone statue.

"I failed you," I whispered. He started to speak, but I held up a hand.

"I shouldn't have asked you to translate that book. I'm thankful that you survived, even if that means you used some of my magic. It was worth it. You are worth it, Lorestone." Lorestone's eyes opened wide, then he blinked.

"Thank you, Lady Sable," he whispered. The chirping announced Indigo's presence before she appeared.

"Did I give you long enough?" she asked, as she circled above the two of us, creating a breeze strong enough to ruffle my hair.

"Can we head to the Clan lands and visit Aurura?"

"You just came back from there yesterday," I said.

"But I miss Aurura, and Grandpa. He was in meetings with Lorestone's Clan." She glanced at Lorestone, like that would change something between us.

"Let's hold off a few days, and you can get caught up on your school work," I said. I tried to not think about how much energy it would take to go there.

"Didn't you get any new recordings from Lady Twilight that you need to listen too?" Indigo did a backflip in the air.

"Do I have too? It's better when there are other people listening."

"I need to figure out what we need to do with these items," I said pointing to them.

"After that, I'll get started on lunch." If we even had much left in the kitchen, at least. Placing a grocery order moved to the top of the list.

"Fine…" She flew back toward her hideaway, her wings barely flapping as she glided across the room.

"I doubt she is going to listen to her recordings," said Lorestone, as soon as she was out of earshot.

"I think she's at that age when that happens…" I muttered, thinking of the book on raising dragons.

"That is correct," added Lorestone, in a knowing tone.

"Dragons tend to group up into cohorts during the next growth spurt. Who they choose can affect their growth." That wasn't what I needed to hear, but it was better knowing then not. The only other little dragon that she interacted regularly with was Aurura. Maybe I could schedule some more play dates through Lady Twilight and Sapphire, Aurora's mom. That wasn't a problem right now, though. Not for today, at least.

"Let's focus on the green crystal, this wooden mallet, and the orange mushroom stone thing…" I picked up the ivory comb.

"I can't forget this, though Indigio liked it."

"Can you hold that closer?" asked Lorestone. I held it up in front of him, near his eyes.

"I… That was in the book, the Fate one," he continued, his voice dipping low.

"It's one of the things listed. It needs to be sold to someone."

"Well, to who?" I asked, holding it up. It didn't feel magical at all. A semi circle of almost pure white, with a little yellow and so many little tongs all facing the same direction. No carving on the curved end, nothing special. Yet, my magic thought it was important, and Lorestone recognized it as well, from the book. I faced him, waiting for an answer, but he kept quiet for several more minutes. Finally, I asked again, "Lorestone?"

"I don't know," he said, with a hint of anger.

"It's only listed, nothing else about it. What I can see matches the image I visualized when I read it."

"But we don't have a clue of who needs it…" I chuckled slightly.

"I understand the Cat just a little bit better now."

"Lord Felix must have the patience of the Tree," added Lorestone. That was his name. Or at least the shortened version of it. Felix. Wait, didn't that mean lucky? The Cat hadn't seemed that lucky. Then again, I had broken the curse. Without him, the shop felt different. Of course, more had changed than the Cat's freedom, and we were still figuring it out. I touched the center of my chest without thinking about it, just as a pulse rippled through my bond with Betty. Betty had an idea.