Dragon Training

Sorceress Apprentice Bianca sat cross-legged on her large double bed in her quarters deep within the heart of the Sorceresses citadel. Bianca allowed her mind to clear, consciously ignoring all external stimuli from her mind. The gentle tweets of the birds on the windowsill, the heat resonating from the fireplace across her room washing over her bare face in waves, the slow thumping of her beating heart inside her chest all shifted in the background. Bianca let a slow, gentle breath flow silently past her lips.

Her eyes snapped open, she extended her arm outwards in front of her. "Ahring Abode Yabi!" she read the complex script from the spell book lying across her crossed knees. The small common plant in front of her began to rumble and shake, Bianca's magical influence quickly expanding the creatures size to three times its natural mass. Pearl white fangs grew from the tranquil blue petals. Its alien throat growled with demonic rage. "As abang!" Bianca growled. The plant's bladed teeth froze just short of consuming their creator. Its body began convulsing as the magic began to recede from its form, returning it to its original, non-carnivorous state.

Bianca breathed a deep sigh of relief, turning to the next page in her spell book, for now she would mark that spell in the 'Maybe' pile. However despite these setbacks she would not allow her training to falter, she would need to prepare harder. She would need far more powerful spells the next time she encountered that dragon and his idiot friend, the harsh burn marks on the back of her robe were a testament to what would recur should she fail.

Bianca's deeply rooted desire to please her mistress and atone for her past mistakes drove Bianca to committing even more time and energy to her training. But despite her resolve subconsciously she could feel herself beginning to falter. Having dedicated several hours to researching new spells all that had emerged were two dozen duds, a variety of spells detailing 'How to remove stubborn stains from your apprentice robes', though strangely nothing relating to Dragon scorch marks as well as several incantations more likely to backfire and blow up in her face proved rather disheartening.

Bianca allowed the book to slip his lap and onto the bed, allowing herself to fall back against the soft mattress. Biancas mind suddenly cleared instantly, the strain and suppressed stress born of hours of tireless training cascading out of her in one fell swoop. She wished that she could remain in this sweet silence for an eternity, but in her heart of heart she knew that eventually she would have to cast herself from the comforting embrace of her soft bed to return to her work once more. Bianca allowed her eyes to flutter closed, savouring the silence.

Bianca begrudgingly forced herself to rise off of her bed, sitting cross-legged she stared down at the text laying before her, daring the docile text to respond to her gaze and finally relinquish the secrets she desired. However despite staring daggers at the inanimate object it refused to respond, stubbornly remaining silent to her demands.

In one final attempt to discover the knowledge she required Bianca gripped the thick pile of pages and began to flutter through them indiscriminately, stopping to place her finger onto a section of the page, praying that random searching may yield a more positive result. The overhanging title of the section read 'How to turn your Newts invisible. Remember, no newts is good newts!' Another dead-end, however before Bianca fell completely into the dark vortex of insanity something on the opposite page suddenly caught her eye.

Bianca allowed her finger to glide across the divide between the pages, coming to rest atop the heading written in piercing bold text proudly proclaiming 'Double your magical power instantly!'

On the one hand Bianca was rather intrigued by the claim, but she still knew that any claim to 'Double magical power instantly' always carried with it a devious catch. Whether the catch was that each of her spells would only last half as long, that she would grow two heads or if it required a hefty sacrifice to unknowable evil Bianca was not entirely sure. However considering the procession of utterly useless spells which had preceded it Bianca was sufficiently intrigued to at least attempt to cast the spell.

Bianca closed her eyes, once more allowing her mind to calm and her body to descend into a state of tranquil serenity. Her lips began to move of their own accord, chanting the incantation beneath her breath. Bianca's voice finally began to speak aloud."Si jars naik arha!"

A large plume of purple smoke exploded as the incantation ended, accompanied by a blinding flash which forced Bianca to momentarily turn away. As her eyes adjusted she could see a mass amongst the dark purple plume of smoke. Bianca allowed the book to slip from her lap as she became consumed by the sight of the figure as they emerged from the dissipating smoke. As the dark smoke began to clear the figure finally gained an identity, Bianca was staring at a clone image of herself. Even the clothes, the purple cloak and the sand coloured top and skirt, were perfect replicas.

The same bemused look forming on the stunned faces of both Biancas. Bianca raised her hand from her side, her reflection mirroring her movement perfectly. "Bianca?" her own name cascaded past her lips.

"Bianca?" her doppelganger repeated the name more as a question to herself than to the original Bianca.

Bianca raised her right hand from her side, Clone mimicking her action with her left hand, their finger tips touching in a mirror image. "What are you?"

"I am you" Clone answered.

Bianca realized that such line of questioning would yield few answers, she attempted another question. "Where did you come from?"

Her clone pondered the response. "From you, you created me" Clone suddenly leant forward, clasping her arms around Bianca in a warm hug. "Thank you, thank you"

"Wow" Bianca returned the hug herself, wrapping her arms around her clone images back. "An affectionate one aren't you"

Bianca's arms unravelled from around her companion, she reached down onto the bed and retrieved the spell book lying on her bed. Bianca began to read deeper into the text in search of answers. 'Doppelgangers are near perfect imitations of their subject. They may become emotionally attached to the one who created them, viewing them as a parent or creator figure' glancing up from the text her eyes went wide with what she saw.

The clone brought her paw up to the nape of her neck, holding the tie of her cloak between her fingers. With a single light tug lightly the bond released, the flowing purple fabric cascaded down her back to pool behind her. Biancas clone reached down to the hem of her sand brown top, gingerly beginning to lift the fabric over her flat stomach.

"Wow" Bianca's hands rushed from her side, the spellbook falling from her lap, she reached out to hold her companions hands in hers. "What are you doing?" Bianca asked as though the very idea that she would dare to attempt such an act would be ludicrous.

Biancas clone stared back at her with the innocence of a child attempting to decipher what infraction they had unknowingly committed in the eyes of a parent. "I just wanted to thank you"

Bianca's gaze returned to the paragraph in the spell book. 'Clones are manifested from the Sorcerer who summons them. The clone may reveal their creators inner most desires and wishes to them'

"Please Bianca" her clone whispered softly. "I only wish to repay your kindness" Bianca could not help but take notice of the rather ampler chest on the otherwise identical doppelganger, her clone noticed her interest. "I thought that you would enjoy them, a compliment to the one who brought me into existence"

Bianca's clone leant forward to eclipse her counterpart in her arms, nuzzling the tip of her nose into the nape of Bianca's neck. Bianca felt a quiver down her spine, it felt as though her counterpart had found every of her sweet spots as though she had been drawn a map.

"Well you are rather sweet" Bianca cooed. "But if we are going to do this we have to come up with a proper name for you"

Her clone pondered the request for the moment. "Mirror" was her soft reply.

The truth was this could work; perhaps two of her would finally be enough to beat the Dragon and his idiot friend. But before that she had a better idea.