“I don’t know anyone else who teleports.”
“You don’t teleport?”
I close my eyes and try to think. We are talking about the same thing, aren’t we? “You mean, physically transport myself to another point in space without traversing the space in between where I start and where I end up?”
“Yes. Can’t you do that?”
“No.”
“Your father, your grandfather—can they?”
“Not that I know of. I think it would have come up before now, since there would have been a number of times that little trick would have come in handy, like pretty much every single time we’ve wanted to go anywhere or get away from yagi.”
Ion looks slightly bewildered. “I suppose that explains a few things about your family, then. I’d always assumed all dragons teleported.”
“I’d always assumed they all didn’t. How do you do it, anyway?”
“It’s much like changing into a dragon. Instead of staying in one place and changing your physical form from human to dragon, you maintain your form but change your location.”
I shake my head, communicating that I don’t understand.
But instead of explaining further, Ion furrows his brow. “I wonder if your family members are incapable of teleporting, or if they just don’t know how.”
“Hmm?”
“It was one of the last skills my parents taught me. I wonder if it’s possible, what with dragons being attacked and killed off in droves, if somewhere not so far back in your family, someone died without passing the skill along. And because you’re so isolated, there was never anyone else to fill in the missing knowledge.”
My head is spinning. “That seems possible.”
Ion looks intrigued. “I wonder if I could teach you.”
“You could try. But I don’t know—” I look down at my arm. I’ve barely moved from this spot since he brought me here.
“Not yet, of course. You’ll have to get your strength back. You won’t be able to teleport until you’re strong enough to change into a dragon, and you won’t be able to do that until you’re strong enough to walk, if—” he breaks off.
“If what?”
Ion is suddenly back to picking at microscopic fish guts with such focused attention, you’d think my recovery depended on it. “Nothing.”
“I won’t be able to change into a dragon until I get my strength back, if—” I break off where Ion did, and try to think how he might have intended to finish the sentence. Only one possibility comes to mind. “If ever ?”
He looks up at me, startled, almost alarmed, and guilty. “I don’t know,” he apologizes hastily. “I’ve never known anyone inflicted with yagi venom who survived. It neutralized your ability to change into a dragon from the instant it was inflicted. We stopped it before it could kill you, but I don’t know—”
“You don’t know if I’ll be able to change back into a dragon, ever again?”
Ion’s expression hardens, and he nods. “You were injured because of me. This is why you and I can never be, Zilpha. You’re better off with any other dragon.”
“I don’t know any other dragon. Do you actually know where I can find one? Did you even see the dragon who attacked you that night?” I recall that the mysteries of that night are still unresolved. That whole teleporting bit distracted me from our original conversation. “Do you know who the other dragons are?”
Ion shrugs. “Agents, counter-agents, spies, counter-spies. I saw some of the people before the shots were fired, before smoke and dragon-flame filled the room, but I don’t know if one of them was the dragon, or how many dragons there were.”
“So, you’re suggesting that I try to track down somebody who tried to kill you…and you think I should marry that person instead of you?” I’m giving him a look that says maybe he should think about what he’s saying, because it sounds completely crazy to me.
But Ion flashes me an amused look. “I nearly killed your father. So it would stand to reason
“You don’t teleport?”
I close my eyes and try to think. We are talking about the same thing, aren’t we? “You mean, physically transport myself to another point in space without traversing the space in between where I start and where I end up?”
“Yes. Can’t you do that?”
“No.”
“Your father, your grandfather—can they?”
“Not that I know of. I think it would have come up before now, since there would have been a number of times that little trick would have come in handy, like pretty much every single time we’ve wanted to go anywhere or get away from yagi.”
Ion looks slightly bewildered. “I suppose that explains a few things about your family, then. I’d always assumed all dragons teleported.”
“I’d always assumed they all didn’t. How do you do it, anyway?”
“It’s much like changing into a dragon. Instead of staying in one place and changing your physical form from human to dragon, you maintain your form but change your location.”
I shake my head, communicating that I don’t understand.
But instead of explaining further, Ion furrows his brow. “I wonder if your family members are incapable of teleporting, or if they just don’t know how.”
“Hmm?”
“It was one of the last skills my parents taught me. I wonder if it’s possible, what with dragons being attacked and killed off in droves, if somewhere not so far back in your family, someone died without passing the skill along. And because you’re so isolated, there was never anyone else to fill in the missing knowledge.”
My head is spinning. “That seems possible.”
Ion looks intrigued. “I wonder if I could teach you.”
“You could try. But I don’t know—” I look down at my arm. I’ve barely moved from this spot since he brought me here.
“Not yet, of course. You’ll have to get your strength back. You won’t be able to teleport until you’re strong enough to change into a dragon, and you won’t be able to do that until you’re strong enough to walk, if—” he breaks off.
“If what?”
Ion is suddenly back to picking at microscopic fish guts with such focused attention, you’d think my recovery depended on it. “Nothing.”
“I won’t be able to change into a dragon until I get my strength back, if—” I break off where Ion did, and try to think how he might have intended to finish the sentence. Only one possibility comes to mind. “If ever ?”
He looks up at me, startled, almost alarmed, and guilty. “I don’t know,” he apologizes hastily. “I’ve never known anyone inflicted with yagi venom who survived. It neutralized your ability to change into a dragon from the instant it was inflicted. We stopped it before it could kill you, but I don’t know—”
“You don’t know if I’ll be able to change back into a dragon, ever again?”
Ion’s expression hardens, and he nods. “You were injured because of me. This is why you and I can never be, Zilpha. You’re better off with any other dragon.”
“I don’t know any other dragon. Do you actually know where I can find one? Did you even see the dragon who attacked you that night?” I recall that the mysteries of that night are still unresolved. That whole teleporting bit distracted me from our original conversation. “Do you know who the other dragons are?”
Ion shrugs. “Agents, counter-agents, spies, counter-spies. I saw some of the people before the shots were fired, before smoke and dragon-flame filled the room, but I don’t know if one of them was the dragon, or how many dragons there were.”
“So, you’re suggesting that I try to track down somebody who tried to kill you…and you think I should marry that person instead of you?” I’m giving him a look that says maybe he should think about what he’s saying, because it sounds completely crazy to me.
But Ion flashes me an amused look. “I nearly killed your father. So it would stand to reason
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