?Episode One Hundred and Eighty: Packages

  The Cat poked his out between two of the spindles on the railing. “I know what one of them is!”

  I nodded, glancing between the two unknown boxes. The small, fragile one, and the larger one. I resisted the urge to shake either of them, though the bigger one appeared to be heavy, or at least awkward with its size.

  I wasn’t just opening them because, well, I’d learned my lesson. Sometimes surprises weren’t the best, though I had absolutely faith the Cat and Betty would protect me from anything truly dangerous.

  The Cat leaped onto the counter and sniffed at the larger one.

  “This one has supplies in it for the shop.” He rubbed against it while I grabbed the box cutter and opened the top.

  He practically pushed me out of the way and stuck his head under the flap.

  “Exactly what I thought...” he mumbled.

  I opened it up and found an odd assortment of things as I pulled the packing paper out.

  Blank journals, a massive amount of mugs all wrapped in packing paper, and cookie cutters.

  “Isn’t this a little weird?” I asked.

  The Cat’s tail flickered behind him but his focus had already shifted to the fragile box. “It’s what the shop needed for inventory.”

  I tried to picture what type of day would include these types of items and decided not to worry about it. When a retail section appeared, I rarely got a chance to peruse the wares, anyway.

  The box sank into the counter without another thought.

  “I don’t know what this is,” growled the Cat. He padded closer and sniffed it all over.

  “Does that actually help?”

  The Cat’s head snapped around and he glared at me. “Yes. For your information, it has a faint dragon scent on it.”

  “Oh, the dragons sent us something...” I pulled it closer, and the Cat followed.

  “Just because it’s from dragons, doesn’t mean it’s safe.”

  I snorted. “Could you imagine the glee of Lord Bennit or Lady Twilight if a dragon sent me something dangerous?”

  The Cat blinked and glanced away.

  I rolled my eyes and carefully cut open the box. A white piece of cardstock rested on top.

  Thank you for finding my son. This does not pay the debt I incurred but, I hope it brings you knowledge and joy.

  Here is My First Rock.

  Lord Echo of the Chromaflame

  I picked up the rather roughly carved granite rock. It wasn’t particularly pretty, but it had a carving of a small dragon sitting snuggled up next to the impression of a larger dragon. My fingers tingled slightly at the touch of the stone.

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  “Who are the Chromaflame?” I asked.

  “The Chromaflame are a clan of dragons that preserve and study art,” whispered the rock.

  “Did the rock just...”

  “Yes,” answered the Cat rather abruptly.

  “What are you?” I asked.

  “I am Lord Echo’s First Rock. A young Lord Echo carved me from granite and imbued me with energy to remember the books and stories that I’ve heard. Over the years, I’ve collected facts and stories about a variety of topics. I answer questions.”

  “Any questions?”

  This time, I didn’t get an answer from the rock.

  The Cat sniffed it.

  “I think we just received a limited search engine for the magical world.”

  “What’s a search engine?” asked the Cat.

  “Something involving the internet; we don’t need to dig into that now.” I held the rock, wondering what to do with it, and eventually set it on top of Betty. Once Indigo woke up, I’d ask her about it and if she wanted it for her hideaway.

  When I turned back to the counter, the Cat sat in the small box and his head rested on one flap bent outward.

  I pressed my lips together to not mention anything about boxes and fitting inside them. Instead, I scratched behind his ear.

  “That’s all today, right?”

  The Cat purred.

  All that remained was finishing my hot chocolate and then working on my magic. I needed to keep practicing, and work out the best ways to use the recent addition to my bracelet.

  I pulled away from the Cat and snagged my mug. I only made it a few feet when I went to take a sip. My hot chocolate was practically gone, with only a little left in the mug. It had been nearly full only a few minutes ago.

  “Cat...” I turned to glare at him, but the box and the Cat were gone.

  Shaking my head, I walked down the hallway into the kitchen. While I loved the Cat, I would not drink the Cat’s leftovers.

  I set the mug in the sink and made my way upstairs and out onto the rooftop balcony. Warm afternoon sunlight washed over me, making me smile. My sunglasses, along with my journal, appeared on the side table next to the lounge chair I usually sat in.

  They helped with the golden afternoon light, as I curled up in the chair.

  Time to meditate and see what’d changed on the inside.

  Closing my eyes, I let the heat sink into me as I focused on my breathing. It only took seconds to find the little sun in the center of my chest. Yet, it wasn’t so little anymore. Loops arced out from it, touching each of my limbs, and sometimes it flared brighter.

  Watching the movement sent warmth through my entire body, and my fingers tingled. I pulled back slowly until I sat again on the roof. Frantically, I jotted down my observations in my journal, to give to the Professor to read the next time we had a lesson.

  “Do I try to wrangle it under control, or just let it be?” I mused aloud. The idea of constricting it felt wrong, like an unintentional blast of a cold shower before the hot water kicked in. I added that note along with the others.

  “Betty...”

  The question stone rose from the table next to me, as several ideas came to mind.

  “Hey rock, who are the fates?”

  “The Fates are a group of beings raised in service to the tree after noble acts of self-sacrifice,” whispered the stone.

  The problem was, I didn’t know if the stone was biased at all.

  “Hey rock, what are Fey Lords?”

  “The Fey Lords are keystone beings on planets ruled by fey magic. They usually are self-centered and focused on one thing only, power.”

  My eyes narrowed.

  “Hey rock, what is the Clan of Knowledge?”

  “The Clan of Knowledge is a highly respected conclave of dragons who collect sources of knowledge from across the worlds. While less important than the Chromaflame Clan who practice the collection of art, the Clan of Knowledge is never-the-less seen as an important dragon Clan.”

  “Biased for sure.” My fingers tapped on the edge of the parchment. “So, it answers questions, but from the viewpoint of a dragon that hoards artwork...”

  “What is your name?” I asked it.

  Nothing happened for a few moments, then the voice replied, “Lorestone.”

  “Well, Lorestone, how can I add to your collection?”