Echos >> Newt Scamander

05. No Ulterior Motives

Myra watched Newt for a moment, the way he seemed to stop being nervous and shy as he began diluting the dragon root as if it was something he'd done a thousand times. Satisfied with the fact that he knew what he was doing she let out a huff, followed by a growl, which caught the attention of all three dragons. Noctis, who'd been watching Newt intently, licked the wizard's hand before bouncing out the door.

Tina, not wanting to let either of them out of her sight, looked back and forth between the brunette, who was innocently stirring a pot, and the blonde who had turned and gone out of the witch's line of sight. Clearly, the more suspicious action was to be investigated first. The witch followed the path that Myra had taken, following only a few meters behind her.

"If you wanted to know where I was going," Myra began, still walking, her dragons flying beside her, "you could have just asked."

"Sorry," Tina apologized, speeding up so that she was walking beside the blonde.

"What do you want to know?" Myra asked, nudging the head of Viride, who had blown fire at her brother.

"Why didn't you Obliviate the no-maj at the bank?"

"I got distracted. I lost my bag, and you're seeing how valuable what's inside it is," The blonde gestured around her.

"That's it, no ulterior motives?"

"No ulterior motives."

"Alright..."

The two walked for awhile in silence, before Tina spoke up again.

"How are you able to understand them?" The witch asked, motioning toward the Ignis loquitur playing midair.

"That kind of has to do with where I'm going," Myra answered, "I promised them that when I got back I would go flying with them."

"With them?" Tina looked confused, "Is there a spell for long-term flying that I don't know about?"

"Not that I'm aware of," Myra tried to look unconcerned, when she was really gauging the witch's reaction from the corner of her eye.

"Then how?" Tina asked as they broke out of the forest and to a clearing with a pool, waterfall, and a large cliff face.

The two started up a path to the rock when Myra responded, "I'm an animagus." Tina's reaction wasn't exactly what she'd expected, she seemed a unsurprised.

"I registered with the Ministry of magic when I was seven," Myra kept walking, pleased when the sentence had finally surprised the witch walking beside her.

"But- but-" Tina stuttered, astonished, "that's unheard of!"

"My mother registered when she was six."

"No!" The brunette witch gasped, "How? Why?"

"My family was insistent on everyone being an animagus," and it was true, even if they weren't an Echo, everyone would always have a way to connect with the others in her family rather than relying solely on shared heritage, "I'll tell you what though, six year old me thought it was absolute torture having that mandrake leaf in my mouth for an entire month.

Tina cracked a smile and Myra grinned back, "I'll meet you back at the cottage in about ten minutes," Myra told the witch, the group having finally reached the top of the cliff.

The blonde made to dive into the water below, but at the last second she spread her arms and transformed. Wings the color of fresh cream skimmed the water's surface, sending up a spray of misty liquid that caught the littler dragons behind her in the face.

Myra beat her wings, propelling herself into the air and away from the cliff. She looked back to make sure that her dragons hadn't been left behind. When she saw that they were only about a wand's length behind her, she also saw that Tina was still watching from where she stood 20 feet below.

The animagus turned her head to look forward as she glided through the air. All that she could hear was the rushing of wind by her ears and the sound of wings slicing through the air.

Eager roars came from beside Myra as the headed back from their loop around the wand wood forest. The cream scaled animagus let out a huffy laugh, or what could be considered a dragon's version of a laugh. She took a deep breath in..., and a giant burst of fire came out. The four of them dove through it, the flames washing over their scales like a dip under the waterfall.

Myra spiraled down, leveling out only a few inches from the ground. She tilted back as she landed beside a holly tree. She turned to watch as both Viride and Aurum landed nicely, settling against her side as they waited for Noctis. It took the Ignis loquitur a little less than thirty seconds to catch up. However, the little dragon wasn't slowing down despite his best attempts.

A puff of leaves exploded out of the holly tree when Noctis crashed into it, causing Myra, Aurum, and Viride to all jump back. The largest of the group leaned over, craning her neck to look at her dragon, who was tangled up in the branches of the tree. He sneezed, joggling the branch that had ended up on his nose.

Myra transformed back into her normal state, creeping forward and sticking her arms into the tree. She carefully brushed away all of the branches entangling Noctis and picked him up, cradling him in her arms.

"I think that's enough flying for today," the blonde said softly, placing the littlest down next to his sisters.

The four of them walked the rest of the way back to the cottage where Newt and Tina were chatting idly, " We're ready if you are," Myra announced.

Both turned to her, Tina nodding at her and Newt handed her the dragon root, "Let's go."

There may or may not be an update on Monday because I'm going to be in Paris for the next week. However, I will try my best to have a new chapter up next Friday.
~Aria