Free Legon Restoration by Nicholas Taylor Page B

trail lit with the glow of flames as screams of pain and terror rang out.  
    She circled back around. There were ten carts, all burning. She noticed bodies on the ground, a few still running on fire. A burst of magic killed her suffering victims. She passed over the scene again, being able to see perfectly in the fire light. From what she could tell there were no survivors. Umbra flapped her wings a few times, returning to her previous altitude and original course.  
    * * * * *
    Sasha did her best not to grin. She took in the rose in front of her as it grew. She'd all but mastered making plants grow. It was easy for her, much to Legon's frustration; it had taken him months to make it as far as she did.  
    "Ha. Look at that, how long did that take you Legon? A month?" Sasha taunted.
    Legon smiled good-naturedly, "OK Sash, now concentrate and see if you can turn the blossoms from red to white."  
    From red to white, she could do this. Sasha focused on the plant in front of her. The feeling for making plants grow wasn't like using magic, it felt as though she was extending herself and her mind’s eye to the plant. It would grow to her will if she understood what she was doing. The ruby petals of the flower seemed to wilt folding in on themselves. She corrected what she was telling the plant to do and the flower popped back up to life, the petals a bright vibrant…
    "GREEN!" she exclaimed falling back into her seat.  
    "You know, I think it did take me a month to master growing...but after that part was down, altering plants came pretty natural to me. I don't know, maybe it's my minor that made it so simple for me and not for you," Legon poked.  
    Sasha had that coming but she wasn't going to lose with grace, instead she stuck out her tongue and leaned back over the plant. She knew Legon was right; he was a biologic and she an elemental. Elementals always had a harder time with altering plants, but that was on large scale projects, not making a flower a different color.  
    She tried again and this time the rose just died. "Oh no, I killed it," she said, feeling bad. It may have only been a flower, but she was the one who grew it to death.
    Legon placed his hand next to the plant. "It's not dead yet," he said and she watched as the rose bounced back to life, its petals now back to a deep red.  
    * * * * *
    Barnin mounted his horse trying not to cake the stirrups in mud. The rain was finally letting up and Barnin couldn't be happier. While in one aspect poor weather meant that Iumenta dragons were more likely to stay grounded, it also meant that the Elf dragons also wouldn't fly. Putting all of the responsibility of breaking Bonta to ground units, that with heavy rain made incendiary siege weapons ineffective. As a result little in the way of progress was being made on the city of Bonta. Barnin hoped that now the weather was getting better that progress could be made, he was tired of living in constant wet and mud.  
    Barnin and his men rode out from camp, clods of mud flinging from horses’ hooves. The sun was rising over the hills and Barnin relished its warm rays. The mounted units were on what they called fishing patrols , it was their job to find enemy units in the surrounding area and likewise make it harder for the Cona Empire to support Bonta.  
    As they ascended hills and trails the sun rose higher in the pale blue sky. The air grew muggy as the saturated ground lent up its moisture to the sun. Barnin stretched in his saddle, enjoying the feel of being dry.
    "Feels good doesn't it boys?" he asked his men.
    They all agreed.
    The patrol had been uneventful but good for Barnin and his men and he thought he would tell them so. "I'm glad that we got called out on this it’s go-"
    "CONTACT!" Heath shouted.
    Barnin and his men moved off the trail drawing weapons looking around, seeing nothing. Above the hill in front of them a pink Iumenta dragon crested the horizon. Barnin fought the urge to panic, ordering his men