Chapter 43: Fractures
"Look, Ruby dear, you need to pay attention." Quartz said, trying his best to maintain his calm demeanor, but his patience was wearing thin.
"Bubbles!" The small coatl screeched, bouncing up again to pop them with her claws.
"Yes Ruby, and I want you to blow those bubbles across the room!" Quartz tried to explain once again to his infant daughter.
"Like this?" Ruby squealed, jumping up and trying to blow with her mouth. However, she couldn't manage to get her mouth open all the way and her tongue got the brunt of the blowing, resulting in a sound the hatchling found very amusing. She soon fell about laughing, and got distracted by recreating the noise she had made before, repeatedly.
"Ruby!" Quartz snapped. "Now is not playtime! It's training time! You want to be big and strong, don't you? To make your Dad proud?"
"Yes Daddy! But look! Look! Look!" Ruby giggled and made blew another raspberry. "I'm doing it!"
Quartz sighed and wiped a speck of spittle from his cheek. Hatchlings were really not his strong suit. "Look, Rubywing." He once again fought to maintain his demeanor. "That is one kind of wind, but the wind I want you to make is something that comes from within, from your very soul. Like this."
Quartz pulled his concentration together and blew another round of bubbles using his internal elemental reservoirs. Ruby just giggled with delight and starting jumping up and down again. Quartz realized bubbles were not the right thing to encourage his daughter. She would need some stronger motivation.
"Like this Ruby!" Quartz called his daughter again, this time summoning the water that lay in a fountain on the edge of the room, bending it to his will. The water rose into the air and raced towards the hatchling, catching his daughter in the midst of it. The joy on Rubywing's face fell and was replaced by fear. She began squirming and gasping for breath, only to take in air. Quartz realized he had gone to far, and released his grasp on the water, fighting against the joy that the show of power had brought him. Rubywing fell to the floor in the sopping heap, coughing and gasping. Her eyes now stared at her father in fear.
"Ruby, I'm sorry." Quartz said, taking a step towards his daughter, who took a step back, quivering and dripping. "That wasn't supposed to happen. Dad got a bit carried away. Let me help."
Using his power more gently this time, he pulled the remaining water in his daughters lungs and lifted the water that had covered her feathers, leaving her dry and safe once more.
"There we go, you're okay! I would never hurt you, you are far too precious." he cooed, trying to encourage Rubywing to run into his arms the way she did with Querida.
"How did you do that? Can I do stuff like that?" Rubywing asked, cautiously, not going into his arms but staring up at her father in awe.
"If you practice and hone your skills, you'll be able to do something similar, just with wind magic." Quartz explained, a real smile suddenly crossing his face. "You are very special, and I want you to be the most special you can be."
Suddenly, the door swung open and Rubywing squealed, forgetting what had just happened and running instead to her mother, who was sauntering in followed by Tess, eyeing the drenched room dubiously.
"What's been going on here, Ruby?" Querida asked the hatchling in her arms as she placed her daughter on Tess's back. She eyed Quartz with a deeper question in her eyes.
"Daddy's teaching me magic! He blowed bubbles and then he made a big wave and I almost died but he saved me!" Ruby explained excitedly. "And Daddy said I can do magic like that someday! I just need prac- prac-"
"Practice, honey." Querida patted the small coatl on the head and turned to Quartz, fury blazing in her eyes. "I thought you weren't going to be training her while she was still a hatchling?"
"I'll go take the little one to her room." Tess offered.
"Good idea." Querida said, not removing her glare from Quartz. She waited for the door to shut and Rubywing's voice to fade before she continued. "What were you thinking? Nearly drowning her?! You realize she is still a child, right? Not one of your apprentices?!"
"Okay, so I may have gotten a little carried away, but-" Quartz said coolly, meeting Querida's gaze evenly and unapologetically.
"A little carried away?! She could have died!!!" Querida shouted. "Are you trying to scar your daughter? because that's how you end up with a traumatized child, not a powerful apprentice!"
"Look, Querida, you don't understand. This is what had to be done-"
"When she's grown up, and able to make your own choices, then ou can train her however you want! Not while she is still a baby!"
"Don't you dare talk to me like that. I am your superior." Quartz's voice turned icy and his gaze hardened
"No! You are not! You said this is a partnership!" Querida reminded him. "And that means keeping promises!"
"Do you think Mercer keeps his promises? Promises mean nothing! They are simply the best way to get a weak-willed dragon to trust you!" Quartz shouted. "That is lesson 101 in this business!"
"So that's what we are to you?" Querida said, hurt flooding her voice. "Thorburn was right to get away. You really are a stinking monster. Do you know why you keep losing to Mercer? Because you throw away those who might possibly have the smallest sliver of compassion for you. Not that I ever did, but you once had loyal followers, mansions and mansions full of them! And now you're stuck trying to gain help from three young dragons who have no idea what the hell they are doing. And if you turn your back on us, you will have nothing."
"Wrong, I will have my daughter." Quartz shot back. "She will grow big and strong and I will grow strong again, just like I always have. Mercer will not take me down again this time."
"Oh no, I am taking Ruby with me and I am leaving. I am finished here. I thought I could get something from this, even if I had to manipulate you back to get it, but the price is getting too high. You dug yourself into this hole, you get yourself out of it." Querida growled. "And I'll go back to what I originally intended to do: protect this innocent wind clan you've latched yourself onto like a parasite from the fallout of whatever happens next!"
"Well, now that your cards are on the table, I have Three offers for you." Quartz was grinning like a fool, trying to hide his fear. He had to protect his own. He would not let this wildclaw ruin everything he had been trying to build. "One, you help me with this and get to stay in your daughter's life. Together we will do anything to keep our family safe. Two, you leave without Ruby, and find a life in that small clan you love so much. Three, you leave with Ruby and I will personally ensure that Windkeep Tower and all the dragons within it are destroyed, as a show of power to my rival. But I will let you know, word is one of Mercer's inner core is a member of Windkeep Tower and I will not show any weakness."
A growl rose within Querida's throat and Quartz suddenly realized what was coming next. The wildclaw before him bared her teeth and flashed her claws, and took a run at Quartz. Just before her talons met his throat, there was a flash of warm light, flowing from his heart and hers, forming a barrier between the two of them. Querida was tossed back and fell to the floor, unconscious. Quartz laughed and kicked her body.
"You fool, you cannot harm me." He hummed in his native language. "And unfortunately, I cannot harm you. But this just goes to show no one should ever cross me." And with that, he summoned a portal and send Querida away.
And things begin to escalate... Querida has certainly flown too close to the sun with this one...
And yes, Mercer is Quartz's rival.
