The tower was impressive and bleak looking on the outside, but inside it proved to be quite cozy. Serali got a room on the second floor, one level below Janus' and two below the workshop on the fourth. The room took up two thirds of the floor, the other two being occupied by the stairs and a storage closet. The room had two large windows, with sills wide enough to sit in, as well as a bed, a desk and a pair of chairs. Unlike the traditional image of a wizard's tower, Janus' was square, with five stories, though the high ceilinged rooms made it look taller. After Serali got her few belongings put away, they seemed to rattle around in the generous dresser like the last apple in a barrel, she went up to talk to Janus.

She found him sitting in his room, leafing through a large book. His room was about the same size as her own, with large windows on three of the walls. It was furnished in somber colors, unlike her won, which was in light earth tones. He put his book aside and offered her a seat in a chair next to his own.

"So what do I do now?" asked Serali.

"Well, for the first week or two, I'll be testing your aptitudes. Here's a schedule I've come up with. If you have any problems we can argue it out. Mornings, I'll have duties for you to do, some chores an also some magical assignments. You'll have an hour before lunch for whatever you choose, and then after lunch, I'll start testing. Once the testing is done, that will be lesson time. You can have evenings to yourself, but I may occasionally require your assistance with spells in the evening, especially once you begin to master magic. How does that sound?"

"I can't find any problems with it now." She grinned cheerfully. "I'll tell you if I ever do."

"Excellent. Today we'll forgo the schedule and you can just get used to things here. I don't want you going into town on your own at first, and I'll be too busy to take you this week, or next, but once you're used to town life, you can come and go as you please."

"Now, I think you'll find some food in the kitchen in the west wing on the first floor. You can use whatever you find, I'll not be eating tonight with you, I've things to do."

He rose form the chair he had been sitting in and ushered Serali out the door before heading up the stairs to the workroom. Serali looked after him curiously, and then went back down the stairs in search of the kitchen.

Some time later, with a full stomach and an appreciation for wizardly larders, since none of the food was stale, despite the fact the Janus had been away for more than a month. She sat down at the desk, noting idly that one if its several drawers wall filled with crisp white sheets of something that was much to thin to be parchment. She also found an odd pen, or at least she thought it was a pen, it didn't look like the quill pens she was used to, and a peculiar object consisting of a stick of something like charcoal surrounded by wood for gripping. It would certainly be less messy than a pen, she thought, and better than using a burnt stick too.

She looked the rest of the room over. In addition to the normal furniture, there was a bookshelf, nearly empty, standing against the windowless wall. It held only two books. One was a thick volume entitled Magical Theory for Beginning Students. The other was a slender book, well worn, and called the Adventures of Jovan the Mage.

"Hmm.... I wonder who left these here?" She said to herself. "Surely they don't both belong to the same person?" Still wondering about the room's previous occupants, she went to bed.

The next morning, bright and early, she awoke to a delicious smell wafting from the lower levels. She descended, entering the kitchen near the back of the tower. He was making omelets. Serali inhaled.

"Is there one there for me?"

"There is indeed. You'll be working hard to day, and I want to keep you fed." He grinned "You know the real reason why mages keep apprentices don't you? It's because slavery isn't legal anymore. We only need you for the work you do."

Serali smiled. "Well, I hope I get some magic out of this."

"Of course, we teach you apprentices just enough to keep you from getting frustrated and leaving. Or at least that's what my last apprentice said. He had dreams of instant power and glory, much too impatient. He's the one, by the way, who left the Adventures of whoever book in your room. You might want to read it sometime for the entertainment value, but it's not at all like real life. The other book was left by the apprentice before that. He enjoyed theory. He only left it behind because he got a more advanced edition form me as a journeyman's present. You might like some of it, though I think you'll be one of those better at application than at theory."

"I like to know whys for sure, but you're right, I like to play with actual results much better."

"Well, I'm afraid that for a while at least, you'll not be getting much of either, since I'll be testing you. You'll do some spells, of course, like the cantrip I used to test you for fire magic. But it's not going to be much fun, I'm afraid that some of the tests are tedious, and some are even painful. I think that you'll prove to be an excellent mage in many areas though."

He flipped the omelet over and then deposited it on a plate which he handed to Serali. She dug in with appetite. After she was finished, she made to leave to go upstairs, but Janus stopped her.

"Cleaning up this will be your first chore. You can clean out some of the rest of the tower too, it's gotten dusty while I was away. Not the whole thing, of course, but as much as you can do before lunch"

"I thought you said I'd do magic in the mornings too?"

"And so you will, as soon as you have assignments to study, until then thought, you'll just have to work."

Serali sighed, then started in on the dishes. The rest of the morning was spent cleaning out dusty corners. She started with the kitchen, since she was already there, and worked out. She finished most of the first level before her break.

After eating lunch, the tests started. Some of them were obvious, like being asked to stare into a bowl of water and get it to slosh around. But what was the purpose of trying to keep her mind blank while Janus burnt a variety of odd things in a little brazier? The afternoon testing finished, Serali was released to her room. She pulled out her lute and strummed idly for a few minuets, but then decided to read one of the books that Janus' previous apprentices had left behind. Not really in a mood for theory, she picked up the adventure book. It proved to be quite interesting, thought perhaps a bit over-dramatic in its prose. She went to bed with scenes of great battles and whizzing fireballs in her head.

That day was typical of many days to come. Serali spent her mornings cleaning the tower, working her way from the bottom up, and her afternoons were occupied by doing a variety of peculiar things that Janus had designed as tests.

After nearly two weeks of such occupation, Serali was relieved to be summoned to Janus' workroom and told that the testing was finished.

"Well, the easy part is over, and now you're going to start working." Said the mage with a grin.

"As if I haven't already cleaned nearly every object you own." Returned Serali.

"Well, as far as that goes, once you've settled into the routine, I'm planning on giving you things besides cleaning to do, but that's beside the point. You need to decide what areas you are going to concentrate on. I've said I want to train you in as many areas as I can, but some you'll want to spend more time in than others. And that brings me to my point. Serali, you have an amazingly broad range of aptitudes."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that you can be almost any kind of mage you want. You test out fairly well in everything I'm familiar with except shamanistic magic and necromancy. Of course I can't train you in something that I'm not familiar with myself, but I'm quite accomplished in Elemental magic, Ritual Wizardry, Ritual Sorcery, and Enchantment, any of which you could master easily."

Serali shook her head. "I don't know what any of those are. You'll have to explain it to me."

"I'll go through the whole list, so that you can begin to familiarize yourself with all of them, even the ones you can't do."

He sat up and assumed a lecturing air. "We'll start with the elemental magics. I'm most familiar with simple or direct elemental magic. Direct elemental magic involves the control of elemental forces without the intervention of elemental spirits. It's not a ritual magic, thought you can use rituals in it, but generally it's just a matter of visualization and state of mind. After that you have Elemental Sorcery, which is the control of the elements through elemental spirits form the planes of the elements. Here is also a little known field of elemental magic that refers to an entirely different system of elements that is based on some rather odd theories. I don't understand it myself, but I'd bet you'd be good at it with a competent teacher."

"You've a truly great aptitude for elemental magery. Usually a person will be a master of a single element, and able to work a little with one other. I was expecting you to be fire and air, which you are, but your mastery of air is batter than usual, and you can do earth magic as well. That is very odd. Usually no one can do two opposing types, and earth and air are opposites. You don't have any antipathy for water either. Strong fire mages are usually violently opposed to water. You can't work it, but you're not sensitive to damage form it either. That's very odd.

"You also have talent for bardic magic. Did you know that you have a perfect sense of pitch? And an excellent singing voice as well. I'm not very accomplished at bardic magic myself, but at some later date, you might want to think about taking at least musical training form someone else. Bardic magic actually comes in two kinds, in one, music is used to cast spells, in the other, enchantment is used to make the listener see and feel what the bard wants him to see and feel. You could very easily do either. And that leads to the next kind of magic, enchantment. Enchantments are non-ritual, and take all of their power form the person that the spell is cast on.

"Ritual Wizardry, which I am familiar with, is another kind of magic, this is the one you probably have heard in the tales, involving chants and strange components. Ritual sorcery is much the same, except you use the chants to summon spirits and they do the work for you. I know sorcery, but I don't' deal in it much, beings form other planes are too unpredictable, I don't like to depend on them.

"Then there's witchcraft. I'm not very familiar with it, thought I know a few basic hexes, and there's quite a lot about it in that theory book that you have. Shamanistic magic, I have no talent for, and neither do you, so we don't have to worry about that, and while I can do a few necromantic spells, you haven't any aptitude for that sort of thing, so we won't worry about that either.

"And that fairly well covers the subject, I could train you in two kinds of elemental magic, or sorcery, wizardry, or enchantment. Which would you prefer?"

Serali shook her head. "I never even thought that I'd have any talent at all, and here you tell me I can do almost anything I'd like. Give me a moment to think about it."

"Certainly. I suggest you sleep on it, actually, and you can tell me over breakfast."

Serali nodded and then left to go to her room. The day was not near over yet, but she lay down on her bed and put her hands behind her head, thinking. She lay there for several hours before she finally came to a decision. Sorcery is out, I don't want to summon things to help me, I'd rather do whatever need doing myself. I think enchantment is out to, that sounds like it's for fooling people, and I don't really think I'll need it much. Wizardry? Yes, I like that, all those chants and invocations, tongue of newt, hair of bats, I'd like that. But then there's the practical side, what do you do when you're in the middle of nowhere and no components? Janus said that I had a special talent for elemental magic, and that works with just mind power. Much more practical, I think. Yes, that'll be fun too. I always was fascinated by fire. She lay there imagining the powerful spells she'd be able to do. Then something that Janus had told her a long time ago ran through her head. "Dragons have a great talent with elemental magic, particularly fire magic… Dragons also have a remarkable ability with bardic magic, because they have a perfect sense of pitch." A great talent with elemental magic, which I have, and a perfect sense of pitch. I guess that really pins it down. I am a dragon in human form, not a human that can change into a dragon. It's just too much to be coincidence. She pondered the implications of this for a while, then came to a decision. Janus has to know, she thought. If he's going to be teaching me, he has to be told that I'm a dragon, otherwise, there may be some spell that will mess up because of it, or that will disrupt my shape-shifting and make me turn back into my dragon self. She smiled at the image that presented. I'd squash Janus and wreck half the tower if I did that inside. She yawned, suddenly realizing how late it was. Drawing the curtains on the last light of the setting sun, she crawled into bed to sleep. The thought ran through her mind as she was drifting off, boy is Janus going to get a surprise!

"So, have you come to a decision?"

"Yes, to two decisions, actually."

Janus looked puzzled. "You want to study two areas at once?"

"No, I've picked just one, but before I start to learn, there's something I think you ought to know about me. That was my other decision, I decided to tell you."

"Now you've aroused my curiosity. What could you have to tell me that I don't already know? I've been visiting you since you were two."

"Not even my parents know this one, Janus. I only found out myself by a rather incredible accident. You see, I'm not entirely human. To be frank, I don't think I'm human at all." She paused briefly, then said, "I'm a dragon"

Janus blinked in surprise, unable to think of anything to say. Then he shook his head, as if to clear it.

"Actually, that explains a lot, like your odd elemental affinities, very typical of a dragon, and your perfect sense of pitch, of course. Dragons are good at ritual magics too… It makes a great deal of sense. I'm still surprised though. I've never even considered teaching a non-human. I don't suppose you could give me a demonstration, I'm not sure I really believe this."

"I'd be happy to, but if I tried it in here, I'd probably wreck the tower. I'm not too big for a dragon, but dragons get very big."

"In that case, since I had no intention of keeping our regular schedule anyway, shall we go for a country outing?"

"It sounds great. I've been feeling confined, just a bit. I'm used to wide open spaces, and flying."

Serali walked out into the center of the field and stopped. She closed her eyes and concentrated, calling up the by no familiar images and feelings. She could feel the shifting sensation move over her, and when she again opened her eyes, she was looking down at Janus.

Janus shook his head. "Amazing! I've never seen anything like it." He walked around her slowly, trying to bring himself to believe that this was real, It almost seemed as if it must be a dream, and he would awaken any minute.

Serali had continued to grow, even when she was not in dragon form, and by now had reached a length of nearly forty feet. She was still small for a gold dragon, being, as dragons judge age, still a child. She lowered her head to Janus' level, startling him into jumping back.

"Sorry Janus." She apologized.

"No, it's not problem, I'm just unused to dealing with someone who could swallow me whole. It's a bit disconcerting, to say the least." He had made a full circle and was standing now by Serali's head. "You're still wearing your bracelet, I notice."

"Yes, I've been unable to remove it by any means I can think of. It seems to be permanently attached, whatever form I wear. Though I can also be wearing whatever I'm wearing as human after I shift, if I think about it. I don't know exactly how it works, but anything will change size to match if I want it too."

"Yes, I understand the principle behind it, thought I've only met a few mages who could do that. I suppose it comes form being born in another shape, since nothing I know of dragon lore says that dragons can do that as a natural talent, and that is certainly what it is, if you can do it just by wanting to, with no incantations. And here I wasn't planning to go into shape-shifting for a year at least. Amazing." He shook his head again.

Serali grinned. "I suppose that neither of us got what we planned for. I certainly hadn't counted on cleaning your tower very day, and you didn't plan on having a dragon."

"No, I didn't plan on a dragon. As for the cleaning though, as soon as I can make the arrangements, you're going to be spending a little less time there than you have been. Magic is all well and good, and cleanliness well worth having, but there are other things that you ought to know as well."

He looked around the field and added, "and now I think you ought to change, and we'll be getting back. There's no telling when some inquisitive farmer is going to come a long and get the chock of his life."

Serali nodded and shifted back into her human form. Then the two of the set off back to the city, discussing magic, dragons, and philosophy as they went.

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