The next morning Storm was deep in thought.
He thought back on Aurora's story from last night as well as his own experience in the battle .
"I was completely defenseless at that point!! Clearly magic is a weak point for us. I'll need to learn more about magic so that I can find a way to defend myself from it." Thought Storm.
If Razor hadn't rescued him, he would be dead. Or even worse, taken prisoner.
He imagined having to go through the same experience that Aurora went through, and decided that even death would be preferable to that.
Storm never bothered to learn a lot of magic and was relying on his innate dragon abilities up until this point.
Now it seemed like it was a foolish idea that nearly claimed his life and he was determined to close up that breach in his defenses as soon as possible.
"Maybe Kalipso can teach me and Aurora!"
With his mind made up, Storm contacted Augustus and asked him to tell Kalipso to meet him in his study.
He waited a few minutes, until a knock on his door announced her presence.
"Enter!" Called Storm.
The door opened and the small purple fairy dragon flew in. She flew to the desk and found an empty spot to land. She then sat up straight and looked Storm in the eye.
"You asked for me?"
"Yes! Please forgive the rather brusque request. But I needed to speak with you about something very urgently. "
"Then, please continue. " replied Kalipso.
"I need you to explain to me how to stop mages from binding us with magic."
Kalipso gave Storm a dumbfounded look.
"This is what you called me for? Magic lessons?"
Storm nodded his head.
"It's an matter of some urgency. During yesterday's battle, I was bound against my will by 2 mages.
Had Razor not come to my aid, I would be dead right now!
Aurora was bound in a similar manner several years back. I need to know how to stop that from happening in the future!"
Kalipso stared at him without saying a word.
"How have you been able to fool the humans into thinking you're a mage when you don't even know the most basic and arguably the most important aspect of magic?
Even an apprentice mage knows these things!" Exclaimed Kalipso.
"I never thought about it until now, ok!! And my draconic lightning abilities enabled me to pass their scrutiny!!" Defended Storm.
'Kalipso sighed when she heard his reasoning.
"This is always the case with new practitioners of magic. They put too much faith into the flashier, more destructive aspects of magic and chose to neglect the 'finer' aspects.
This is especially common among dragons. 'Why should they spend time studying? When they can perform destructive feats most mages can only dream of by simply breathing?'
This arrogance has caused many of your kin's downfall over the years. I'm pleased that you have at least acknowledged this vulnerability and are now taking steps to address it."
"Can you teach us this or not?!" Asked Storm with a hint of irritation.
"I can indeed teach you two! I would even go as far as praise your wisdom in approaching me instead of another as none are more gifted at these aspects of magic than my kind!" Replied Kalipso.
"When can we start?"
"I'll need a few days to prepare and set everything up. In the meantime, I thought of something else. How many magic practitioners do you have in your forces?"
"Not many. A few of the elves know a bit of healing magic, but none are dedicated magic users." Replied Storm.
"The addition of my people to your forces will be of great help to you then. You never fought a particularly powerful practitioner like an archmage, did you?"
Storm shook his head.
"We tended to try and 'avoid ' attention from such foes."
"At least you showed that much sense! He could have wiped you all out in minutes if you didn't.!" Replied Kalipso.
"There's something I don't understand? If mages are this dangerous? What is the use of armies then if a single mage can just wipe them all out?"
"Most mages lack the power to do so, but there's another reason why they can't. Magic can only be blocked by Magic.
All armies have weaker mages scattered around inside it, the jobs of these weaker mages is to pool their resources to provide a barrier around the entire army, this barrier keeps hostile mages from wiping their forces out with a single spell.
These armies often try to find and kill their opponent's mages while protecting their own. For this role, they use specially trained assassins to hunt and kill them."
"Like my elven forces?" Asked Storm
"Exactly! Your elves' fighting styles is the natural counter against mages, this has no doubt helped you alot. Had you tried to fight back in the conventional way. You would have been defeated years ago."
"There's something else bothering me?
Before the battle, you cast something called a 'glamour bubble' around me?
It saved me from several spells?
But why didn't it stop the binding spell?" Asked Storm.
"The bubble I placed on you was only meant to deflect spells that were attempting to 'harm' you. The spell they cast on you wasn't a direct attack.
It was only meant to restrain you and because of that, they were able to bypass it. They no doubt figured out how the enchantment works and adapted.
This is also why you have been particularly dangerous to your enemies.
Everyone knows of a dragon's ability to breathe fire.
When mages see a dragon preparing to unleash their breath, they immediately begin weaving counterspells to block the flames.
'You' however don't breath fire!
As a result your attack passes through their barrier as if it was never there!
It won't last though!
Once you gain more renown and people learn of your abilities, they'll take precautions. "
"What can I do to avoid this?!" Asked Storm.
"Learn different forms of magic attacks and vary your attacks. That would make it harder for them to predict and defend against you." Replied Kalipso.
With his curiosity sated. Storm set up a time for the lessons to take place, then rushed off to go give Aurora the news.