The Year of the Lumin by Andrew Ryan Henke Page A

a human at that moment, her power, wisdom, and age could be felt filling the room.  She had Noir sit on his knees and legs with his feet tucked under him.  His hands were on his knees and he sat up straight as instructed.  His damaged leg hurt under his weight, but he did not want to show the pain.
    “Noir.  My power is limited when I am keeping this form.”  The woman gracefully strode over to the large object in the room which resembled a huge curved table.  The corners bent up toward the ceiling creating a rectangular bowl.  The legs were extremely thick and reinforced.  “In order to train you correctly, I must change.  Do not be alarmed.”
    She put a hand on the huge table and turned to face Noir.  A light filled the room from Fafnir's direction.  Noir had to avert his eyes until the light faded.  When he looked back, an enormous white dragon was resting on the large table.  He realized it was not a table, but a resting stool for her.  It supported her abdomen and allowed for her feet to rest effortlessly on the ground.  Fafnir's wings were drawn in and rested on her back.  Her massive limbs and body were covered with thick white scales.  Each scale was flecked with yellow at the very tip.  Her tail was lying on the ground behind her in a long crescent shape.  Her thick neck rose upwards and turned toward Noir.  Her massive head had two yellow horns curving backwards.  Her jaw had smaller horns pointing down.  Noir estimated that if he stood next to her, his head would reach up to one of her massive knees.
    The creature was an amazing sight.  Noir was not at all prepared for the magnificence of what he was seeing, though he did not lose his poise.
    Fafnir opened her great mouth and spoke.  It sounded similar to the voice that had come from her human form, but it was deeper and gravely.  “Now, you must tell me before we start, have you ever used lux untrained before?”
    Noir thought, though it was hard to concentrate with such a magnificent sight before him.  “No, I do not think so.”
    “It would have felt like a throb of power inside you.  Think, child.”
    Noir thought back throughout his life.  Even though he had only been in this new world for a little over a week, with all that had happened, the time before felt distant and unreal.  His thoughts about the change from his home to there made him think of the cave on Medicine Mountain.  He had felt the throb of power there.  He had grasped it and forced it into that sphere.
    Fafnir noticed the change of expression on his face.  “So you have grasped lux before.  Tell me what happened.  What were you doing at the time?  What did you do with it?”
    Noir was taken aback.  He had not told anyone about the cave and his home.  He had no idea how Fafnir would interpret his story.  He wasn’t even sure that she would believe him.  He had a feeling that he shouldn't lie to her, though.  So he said, “I'm not sure what to say.  I don't understand it and I'm not even sure if I believe it or not.”
    “Then tell me all that you know to be true and I will interpret it for myself.”
    Noir sighed and started from the beginning when he saw the cave.  He went through each detail of what had happened since he had come to this world.  She kept asking about Noir's “home” world, as she called it.  She was very intrigued about electronics, asking over and over how they worked and what powered them.
    When Noir finished the story up until the point where he arrived in the cave, she said, “Your home world uses these ‘electronics’ to make up for its lack of chakra.  Instead of enchanting objects to perform tasks through chakra, you have these battery devices.  Instead of Luxins, you have doctors.  While we have Din Mages to throw fire, you have chemical substances to create fire.”  She grumbled and shifted her weight on the large stool.  “Obviously, we see lightening in the sky, but never have we thought to harness it