Rogue Legacy, Jeffrey L. Kohanek [best pdf reader for ebooks .txt] 📗

Soothing heat enveloped Lyra’s body as she lay in the tub with only her head and shoulders above the water. A sliver of morning sun streamed through a crack in the curtain, accompanied by the pleasant tweeting of a starfetch from somewhere nearby. Lyra found herself completely at ease, feeling safe and content. For the first time in months, she felt like herself. Inspired by the small bird outside, she began to sing, her voice reverberating within the barren confines of the bathing room. With her eyes closed, she gave herself to the song, allowing the emotional expression to consume the sorrow she had buried deep inside.

As her song ended, she held the last note for an undetermined amount of time, slowly feeding it until she had no remaining air to give. Remnants of the chord still flitted about the room as she opened her eyes and sat up.

A gasp escaped her lips when she saw Cal standing in the open doorway. Her hands went to her chest to cover herself as she sank back into the water.

“What are you doing in here? Get out!”

He shook his head, his face reflecting awe. “You have no idea what you have done. I…I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve given me.”

“What?” She dug the bar of soap from the water and whipped it at him. “Go away, you letch!”

The soap hit him in the head. “Ouch.” His hand rubbed his forehead. “I’m…I’m sorry.”

He ducked out the door, leaving her behind.

Lyra grabbed her towel, climbed from the tub, and dried off. She dressed herself and exited the bathing room while she was still brushing her hair. When she entered the kitchen, she found Cal bent over the table, busily drawing symbols on a sheet of paper.

Frowning, she waited for him to look up at her, for him to apologize for violating her privacy. He appeared oblivious, completely focused on the figures he was tracing. With her patience expired, she broke the silence.

“Well…don’t you have anything to say for yourself?”

He looked up at her, blinking in confusion. “Oh. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…I…just found your singing so lovely, like another kind of magic. It drew me in against my will.” He leaned back. “When I saw you singing, the magic materialized right before my eyes. Never before have I seen anything so beautiful.”

Lyra’s face grew flush, her heart racing as her emotions teetered between the embarrassment of the moment and the flattery of the compliment.

Cal stood, appearing passionate. “You showed me something, Lyra, something I’ve been seeking for a long time, but I didn’t know it until I saw it.”

Lyra swallowed hard as she stared into his intense blue eyes. She stepped toward him, unable to do otherwise. Likewise, Cal stepped closer and lifted his hand toward her. Lyra blinked in surprise when he shook the sheet of paper in front of her face.

“Emotions! Your singing enabled me to visualize emotions!” He pointed at the symbols on the paper, as excited as a five-year-old with a captured firefly. “Before, I had only been able to read physical effects. But now, I can do it! I can see emotions!”

Lyra’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”

His finger pounded on the paper again. “These symbols. They’re emotions! This changes everything!”

The passion-driven heat within Lyra began to stir. “Are you talking about your stupid magic again?”

He nodded, and the stirring heat within her flashed to an angry boil that erupted into shouting.

“What’s wrong with you? Why can’t you act normal?”

Lyra thrust her hands into his chest, knocking him into his chair as she turned and stormed down the hall. She caught a brief glimpse of the perplexed expression on his face before the door to her room slammed shut.

10

Cal finished tracing the symbol before setting the brush on the bench, leaving small white splotches where the paint from the brush splattered.

He eyed the symbol and nodded. “I need you to hold him and do your best to comfort him.”

Lyra glanced at Gilo and noticed his tail folded between his legs, the whites of his eyes showing.

“That’s just paint, right? It won’t hurt him?”

Cal shook his head. “No. Of course not. The paint should wear off in a few days. However, I’m hoping the effect will last far longer.”

“The effect of what, exactly?”

He shrugged. “The magic, of course.”

Lyra rolled her eyes. “Of course. It’s always the magic.”

Rather than respond, he just grinned.

Releasing a sigh, she shook her head and knelt beside Gilo. The dog turned her direction, forcing her to tilt her head back to avoid his long tongue. She wrapped her arms about the dog and began to pet him, crooning softly to ease his anxiety.

Cal closed his eyes and breathed in, his breaths growing more rapid. His eyes flashed open, and Lyra started when she saw red sparks leaping within them. A crimson glow arose from within the symbol painted on the dog’s back. Cal bent and put his hand on Gilo, his eyes appearing normal again before he closed them.

Gilo stiffened and yelped. The yelping grew more intense, sounding like the dog was in immense pain. Lyra felt Gilo’s chest expanding, and she feared that he might explode. In fits and spurts, the dog grew taller, yelping the entire time. She fell backward to the ground and stared in a mixture of horror and wonder as the dog’s size expanded. Cal kept his eyes closed the entire time, his hand never leaving the dog. The dogs growth slowed, and his yelping quieted to a whimper.

As suddenly as it began, the dog stopped growing and fell silent other than panting.

Lyra was stunned as she attempted to rationalize what she had witnessed. Moments ago, the top of Gilo’s head barely came to her waist. Now, the dog stood nearly as tall as Cal and easily weighed four hundred pounds.

Her focus shifted to Cal, who had a pained look on his face.

“Sorry, boy,” Cal whispered as he pet his dog. “They’re pushing me for results, and I had to start somewhere. When they meet you, I expect they will be suitably impressed.”

Lyra released a sigh of relief when Cal finally exited the shop. The crowd who had gathered around her and Gilo made her feel self-conscious, even though their focus remained on the giant dog.

“All done here,” Cal said as he walked past her.

Gilo followed Cal with Lyra squeezing the rope and praying to Yanetta that he would not decide to bolt. Thus far, the dog appeared oblivious to the disturbance he had caused since arriving in Sol Polis.

When they reached the open square at the city center, Cal stopped and stared into the afternoon sky.

“What is it?” Lyra asked.

“The planet. We can see it during daylight now.”

Lyra’s gaze followed where he pointed and found a milky globe hovering in the hazy blue heavens. She squinted at the object, white with gray swirls. A puffy white cloud drifted past, obscuring it from view.

“A planet? I don’t recall any planet being that