Reunions and Acquaintances
Najal and Ardel rode in silence as they approached the manor house. Despite Najal’s cheerfulness earlier, she had grown quite as soon as they had sighted the manor from a nearby hill. When they dismounted at the gate, there was another horse already grazing in the front yard. Najal shook her head. Her father would not be particularly happy about that. Looping the reins over the gate, Najal and Ardel walked up towards the front door. To one side, Ardel noted a large indentation in the ground. “Is that where?” he asked, tentatively. She nodded. “Yes. That’s where Grandfather Corus held me hands as I killed my first person,” she said sadly. “That was also the day I left here and went to the Academy.” They walked up to the door and Najal knocked on the door with her staff.
—-
There was a knocking on the door as Fenyn sat in the foyer. He looked up in surprise and cautiously edged his way over to a window. He saw a young woman at the front door with an armored guard behind her. Slowly backing up from the door, he walked to the entrance of the library and knocked gently on one of the open doors. Lisila was kneeling on the floor next to Ajel’s chair. They were talking to each other in low voices that Fenyn couldn’t make out. He coughed softly and knocked again. “My apologies, Lady. M’lord.”
Lisila and Ajel looked up with tear streaked faces. Lisila wiped her eyes and cleared her throat. “Yes Fenyn? What is it?”
“Lady, there is a young woman at the front door with a guard.” he said.
Ajel wiped his eyes. “A young woman, you say? And a guard? What do they look like?” he asked.
“Sir, the young woman is a little more than a five feet tall. She has copper hair and carries a staff. One of her arms has a thick bandage on it. The guard is wearing chainmail and carrying a small armory of weapons.” he said.
Lisila looked at Fenyn. “Do they look familiar to you Fenyn? Perhaps someone you met?” she asked.
“No, Lady. I have never seen either of them before.” said Fenyn.
“Copper hair, you say,” said Ajel. “Perhaps she is more familiar to me.” He levered himself to his feet and started walking towards Fenyn.
“Sir, would you like me to let them in and bring them here? Then you might sit comfortably rather than exerting yourself.” suggested Fenyn. Ajel looked at Fenyn in surprise. “Young man, I would appreciate that. While I am not ancient, my body has suffered the depredations of old age sooner than usual. Please escort them in,” said Ajel as he sat down again. Lisila stood up and brushed off her robes while Fenyn went out to the foyer.
—-
Najal was about to knock her staff on the door again when it was opened by a young man. “Who are you?” she demanded.
The young man frowned. “Pardon? You knocked on the door. You should be the one introducing yourself.” he replied arrogantly. Ardel stepped up to the door. “Young man, you will speak with respect when addressing this woman.” Fenyn looked disdainfully at Ardel. “Guardsman, I don’t know who you think you are, but it is tradition that the visitors introduce themselves. Or at least it is in civilized places. The master of the house has bid me to let you in, but I will not do so before knowing who you are.” he sneered. “Now, are you going to introduce yourselves or are you going to stand outside?”
Najal’s teeth clenched and she growled back, “If my father has bid you to let us in, then by the gods let us in, you insolent little wretch.” She stepped up to the young man and jabbed at him with her staff. He danced aside and she walked into the foyer. Ardel followed her and glowered at the young man. “Where is he?” demanded Najal. “I must speak with him.”
“If you would like to see him, you might try to be more polite, even if you are his daughter.” sneered the young man.
“Do not attempt to dictate rules to me, servant,” snarled Najal. “This is my house as much as my father’s. Now tell me where he is.”
“Right this way, then, lady” he said, acidly. Ardel took one step towards him, but he scrambled away towards to the library. Najal stalked after him. At the door to the library, the young man knocked on the door and was about to say something, but Najal pushed past him. “Papa?” she asked softly.
Ajel was already halfway across the library when she walked in and Ajel gasped. “Najal? Is that really you?” he asked.
“Papa!” cried Najal as she ran to him and embraced him fiercely. Ardel glared at the young man as he walked into the library and the young man stepped in after him looking at the floor sheepishly. An older woman stood behind one of the chairs in the library, her eyes glistening with tears as she watched Najal and Ajel embrace. After a few minutes, Najal released her father and helped him back to the chair in front of the older woman. Najal looked at her curiously, but didn’t say anything. After Ajel was sitting comfortably, Najal pulled an ottoman next to his chair and crossed her legs on it.
“Najal, my dearest daughter, you are safe. It is a blessing to see you here. When Corus sent me the letter saying you had left the Academy, I thought the worst.” he said. “These six years have changed you, my daughter.”
Najal nodded slowly. “Six years at the Academy taught me much, Papa. Chief of which was that the Academy was not the right place for me. I’m sorry, Papa. I tried. I really did, but the teachers didn’t understand me and no matter what I did, it was never right. And my year-mates were wretched.” The words all tumbled out with a rush. “I never want to go back,” she confessed, sobbing.
Ajel looked at his sobbing daughter and reached out tentatively to caress her cheek. “Najal, you will never have to return if that is your wish. It was a mistake to try and force that upon you,” he said softly. He glanced up at the woman standing behind him with tears in his eyes. She shook her head once, but remained standing behind Ajel.
“We still have some time, Najal, before pressing matters must be addressed. Why don’t you introduce your friend and tell us of your journey?” he asked.
Najal choked back a sob and wiped her eyes on her sleeves. “I’m sorry, Papa. This is Ardel. He, um, saved me in Relaith and escorted me here. I made a few mistakes in my haste to leave the Academy and ended up in Relaith with no money and looking no better than a street urchin.” She bit her lip as she continued. “I, um, tried to steal his belt pouch in order to buy a meal and place to sleep, but he was on to me.” Ardel smiled at Ardel who grinned back. “He took pity on me and paid for my food, a room, and a bath. Then he decided to leave Relaith and escort me here to make sure I didn’t get into any more trouble. Not that it worked,” she said. Ajel looked from Najal to Ardel and back. “What do you mean?” he asked.
“We, uh, ran into some trouble on the journey. But we dealt with it.” she said, avoiding more details.
Ajel looked at Ardel. “Do you have anything to add to this Ardel?” he asked. Ardel looked at Najal, who shrugged, before looking back at Ajel. “M’lord, your daughter was going to be in a lot more trouble if I didn’t do anything in Relaith. I could tell she wasn’t really a street urchin, which intrigued me more than a little bit. After a bath and a good night’s sleep, your daughter and I discussed the options available to her.” Ajel’s eyes widened and while Ardel saw his reaction, he quickly said “Sir, it was not like that. We had separate rooms and baths. Nothing like what you are imagining happened.” Najal laughed. “Papa. Ardel is an honorable man. He did nothing inappropriate,” she said. Ajel looked at his daughter while the woman behind him stared at Ardel. Quietly, she whispered “The armored fury.” Her hand went to her mouth. Ajel’s head snapped around to stare at her while Najal looked at the woman, confused, and emotion fled from Ardel’s face.
The young man cleared his throat. “Excuse me? Can someone explain what’s going on? The armored what?” he asked.
The woman looked up. “Quiet Fenyn” she commanded. Fenyn glared at her but didn’t say another word. Ardel, on the other hand, looked from Fenyn to the woman and said, “No, he has the right questions. What is going on? And why did you call me ‘the armored fury’?”
The woman looked at him and quite seriously asked him, “What happens when you enter combat, Ardel? Do you lose control? Become the embodiment of anger, rage, fury? Say it isn’t true and I will recant my statement.”
Ardel stared at her for a moment. “Who are you, woman?” he asked. “Only one person has seen me in battle in the past twenty years and she is sitting before you. I have never met you before, so I do not know how you can say such things.” His hands clenched convulsively around two of the hilts at his belt. Fenyn stopped looking at the other people in the room and said softly, “Do not even think of drawing a weapon, Ardel. There is no need.”
The woman nodded. “Fenyn is correct, Ardel. There is no need for steel to be drawn today. Are you going to answer my questions, though?”
Ardel looked at the woman and then to Najal. Najal looked back with a silent plea in her eyes and the tension fled from Ardel’s body. He let go of the hilts and looked at the ground. “I don’t know what happens when I enter combat. If someone carries a weapon against me, I remember little of the encounter except the aftermath. I have only raised a weapon against unsuspecting opponents once and remember the entire encounter as if it happened yesterday. And that was more than twenty years ago.”
The woman nodded and spoke “You are the armored fury. You become the conduit for a spirit of rage and fury when someone bears arms against you. Even friends must take care around you, for you can not tell friend from foe in that state.” Turning to Najal, she said “You are lucky, child, that you have only that staff, for this man would have cut you down had you held a blade in your hand during your ‘troubles’.” Najal swallowed.
The woman continued. “If it were not obvious already, I will answer your question. I am the Oracle of Kunir, Lady Namalin. When addressing me, you may use either of my titles, Lady Oracle or Lady Namalin. And I have seen you in my visions, Ardel, along with you, Najal.” Both Ardel and Najal stared at her, a little awed. Even Fenyn, who knew she was an oracle, looked a little shocked to hear that she was the Oracle, and not just an oracle. The only person who was unsurprised was Ajel.
“Oh stop it,” snapped Lady Namalin. “I am no deity, you fools. Nor an avatar. I am simply a priestess who has been granted visions of the past and the future. These visions are hardly set in stone, though some of them, are more consistent than others. The inconsistent ones are often the easiest to decipher because they show alternatives. In those cases, an oracle can sometimes influence the final outcome by paying close attention to the visions and signs. Or, as in one case, by misinterpreting the signs.” She grumbled a little and Ajel looked at her, but she continued. “The consistent visions are the ones that are often the hardest to interpret because they generally lack context. So, for example, seeing you,” she said, pointing at Najal, “and you,” pointing at Ardel, “have been consistently in my visions for more than sixteen years. But until recently, I did not understand who were with you. Now I understand that I am to accompany you. The fourth person that is consistently in this vision is not here, but you,” she pointed at Fenyn, “are represented multiple ways and you understand why. Don’t you?” Fenyn looked at her and nodded. Lady Namalin continued. “Unfortunately, by ‘represented’ I do not mean that you show up as a person in the vision. But I see your spear and your baronial coronet in the visions. Given who you are, this doesn’t surprise me any longer. Needless to say, Ardel, Najal, and myself will be leaving for Asery soon. Fenyn, you must decide if you are to come with us or, as is your prerogative, strike out on your own. I can not make that choice for you.” She looked at each in turn for a moment before her eyes rested on Ajel. “Ajel, I ask for your patience in this matter. I know how little you really want me here, but we need some time to allow questions to be asked and decisions to be made. We will be out of your hair in no more than three days. May we partake of your hospitality?” she asked.
Ajel looked at her in surprise. “Three days? Is that all?” he said, slightly disbelieving her words. She nodded. “But, Lisila. Najal has just come home. She has been missing for three ten-days, and you want me to let her leave with you in three days? Please.” he begged.
She shook her head. “As much as I would like to allow it, I dare not stay more than three days, Ajel. Already things are in motion. I fear that in two ten-days we will need to be beyond the Northern Shield in order for all to work out.”
Fear crept into Ajel’s eyes. “That soon?” Lisila nodded. “The dragons are moving, Ajel. If we are not beyond the Northern Shield by the time they reach Asery’s outpost, then I fear all will be lost.” she said.
Ajel bowed his head and nodded. “Very well. As always, you are welcome within these walls. Fenyn, Ardel, be welcome in my home.” He looked at his daughter and smiled. “I am proud of you, Najal, welcome home.”
Lisila closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Ardel, Fenyn, I am sure that you can make yourselves useful to Ajel during our stay. I must speak with Najal. Alone.” she said. She motioned for Najal to follow her and headed out of the library. Najal looked at her father, who nodded, and then at Ardel, who also nodded, before quickly following Lisila.
—-
Ardel looked at Ajel and then at Fenyn. “Now what?” he asked. Ajel shrugged. “Do you have any questions for me? Either of you?” he responded.
Fenyn shook his head. “Just like that? Based on the Lady Oracle’s pep talk, I’m supposed to decide whether to walk away or to go beyond the Northern Shield with the rest of you.” He turned to Ardel. “I suppose you are okay with the way she simply decided for you?” Ardel shrugged. “I had already decided that where Najal goes, I will go. We have been through too much for me to abandon her now.”
“I see. Three ten-days on the road alone and I suppose you were bound to do enough to bind yourselves together.” retorted Fenyn, his voice dripping with sarcasm. Ardel took two steps towards Fenyn, before Ajel interrupted.
“Stop! The two of you stop. Fenyn, young man, you have a lot to learn about honor if that’s what you think happened. I do not know what happened, but I do know that your thoughts and words are dishonorable and false.” snapped Ajel. Turning to Ardel, he asked, “Tell us what happened after you and Najal met in Relaith. Do not leave out anything, including your feelings.”
Ardel sighed. “May I sit? This is a long tale.” Ajel waved both men to chairs. Ardel sat for a moment with his head in hands. Then he started talking. Several candle-marks passed before he finished. Ajel was nodding. Fenyn was looking at Ardel in disbelief. Ardel looked back at Fenyn. “So you see, Fenyn, there is no way I could bring myself to do anything but protect her. I already lost Ellaia and Najal reminds me too much of her. I can not help but love her, but that love is not what I shared with Ellaia. I will protect her from harm as best I can, but that is the extent of the bond we have. After the events in the cave, she understands the bond as well and will not push it’s limits.”
Fenyn shook his head and looked at the rug. “This is unbelievable.” he said. “I should be furious with you, Ardel. Really I should.”
Ardel looked at Fenyn. “Why is that?”
Fenyn looked up. “Ellaia. That is not a particularly common name. And you say that you lost her to her father’s men a little more than a year ago?” Ardel nodded. “Do you know who I am, Ardel?” he asked. Ardel looked confused and shook his head. “Should I?” he asked.
Fenyn sighed. “I am Fenyn Eural Alrarahur. Up until a year ago, I was the only child of the Baron Alrarahur. One year ago, my father tried to have me killed due to his frustration over a smuggling operation of his that I unwittingly ruined.” He looked Ardel in the eyes. “And because his plan to marry me off to Ellaia Relerin fell through because she was carrying the child of his guard commander.”
Shock knocked Ardel back into his chair. Ardel stared at him as he continued. “So you see, Ardel. I should be furious with you for causing the death of the woman that my father was trying to marry me to. I will grant you the fact that I would have been miserable because I had no desire to get married at the time and certainly not to help further my father’s affairs. But if it weren’t for you, my father might not have tried to have me killed just then.”
For several minutes, all three men sat in silence at the ties between the two men. Finally, Ajel spoke. “Ardel, you had mentioned something about what happened after my daughter broken the magic of that room. You mentioned a pure blade, I think?”
Ardel shook his head and blinked. “No sir. Not a pure blade. A Pureblade. Your daughter said something about them being a device crafted during the First Age of Man to fight the dragon hordes. She was very formal about handing it me and when I responded, the blade flared and shone with light. She was hoping that your library might contain more information about them.”
Ajel nodded. “Right. A Pureblade. First Age. Hmm.” He stood up slowly and looked around the room for a minute. “Yes. Over here.” He slowly walked across the room to a tall bookcase and pointed up. “Would you be able to retrieve that volume there? The fourth one to the left on the middle shelf. Bring it over to the table and let’s see what we can find out, shall we?” Ardel gently picked up the book and carried it over and the three men started their research.
—-
While the men started talking, Lisila and Najal walked away from the library and out through the kitchen into the vast field beyond. Lisila said nothing as they walked towards a small grove of trees. Every now and then she would glance over at Najal, but that was all. Najal followed her, more than a little confused by the silence. “Where are we going, Lady Namalin?” she asked.
Lisila smiled. “Just to that grove there. And please, you may always call me Lisila.”
“Why?” asked Najal.
“Why what, child?” responded Lisila.
“Why ‘Lisila’ instead of your titles?”
“Your mother would have wanted it that way.”
“You knew my mother?” asked Najal.
Lisila nodded. “Yes. We were…are close.” she said, sadly.
“Did she ever talk of me?” asked Najal as they approached the grove.
“Often. She spoke of how she missed you and loved you. She especially spoke of how much it hurt her to be away from you.”
“What is she like?” asked Najal softly as they walked into the center of the grove and sat at the edge of the overgrown spring.
Lisila sighed. “She loved everything about life, especially your father. She took joy in the workings of the gods and was skilled in the ways and artistry of magic. You remind me of her a little bit.”
Najal looked up at the trees swaying in the wind and smiled.
Lisila watched her for a moment. “What are you thinking of?” she asked.
Najal tilted her head so she could see Lisila. “Nothing important. The way the trees are moving just reminded me for some reason of the day I first used magic.”
Lisila smiled. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
Najal looked back to the trees and sky and laid on the ground. For some reason, this woman she had just met made her feel safe. “I was six,” she began. “And there was this apple way at the top of this apple tree on the other side of the field. It looked so delicious and big, I just had to have it. I fixed my eyes on it and concentrated with all my will. The wind swirled around me and the trees all bent over and the branches shook. And then, all of a sudden, the apple was there. In my hands. And the winds stopped. I took a big bite and then took off to tell Papa what I had done. He was so proud of me when I told him, until I mentioned the wind. Then, for some reason, he looked scared. I’m not sure why. Anyway, I was so happy that I could do magic. It’s all I’ve ever really wanted to learn.”
Lisila smiled at her daughter. “Your mother would be proud as well. I know it.” she said.
Najal looked over at her. “You think so?”
Lisila nodded. “Yes. I know she would be proud of you. Would you mind telling me about your childhood, so I can tell your mother the next time I see her?”
Najal looked back at the sky. “Strangely, once I had shown that I could work magic, things weren’t particularly fun anymore. I still had this nurse who scared me, for all the she encouraged me and showed me things about magic. But when I was eight, she went away and I was really left to figure things out on my own. Papa tried to explain things, but it never made sense. Grandpa Shunus and Grandma Naddeni started to come by more often after my nurse left. They also tried explaining things and it made a little sense, but not a lot. When I was nine, Grandpa Corus started coming by once a month. I think he was starting to test me for the Academy, even then. He was the best of them and I really thought I was understanding. And then my tenth birthday happened.”
Lisila sat looking at the spring with tears in her eyes. “What happened on your tenth birthday?”
“Ithen.” said Najal. “She showed up and demanded some sort of payment from Papa. I never liked her even though she visited and made Papa happy for a while. But that day, what she was saying just made me angry. And as I listened to her and Papa argue, I realized that she was actually in control. And then Grandpa Shunus and Grandma Naddeni Corus showed up and she really started threatening Papa and being mean. And I lost my head. I started shouting at her to get away. I don’t know really understand what happened, but one minute she was standing on the doorstep and the next she was flying through the air unconscious and I was storming out to throttle her. Grandpa Corus showed up and stopped me before I could. He held my hands and helped me focus my fear and anger on Ithen. And then he told me to think of the way you step on a bug to kill it and imagine doing the same thing to Ithen. And suddenly, there was a loud thunderclap and Ithen’s body was gone, but there was a huge indentation in the ground. And then I passed out.” Najal giggled as she mentioned the indentation in the front yard. “Papa still hasn’t had it filled in.”
Lisila listened in horror as her daughter described the matter-of-fact killing of another, even if the victim was a dragon-spawn. Tears spilled from her eyes as Najal described the next six years at the Academy and the almost daily bullying from year-mates. When Najal described the encounter with Jolak and his cronies and how she fled the Academy the next morning without really thinking about it, Lisila chuckled through her tears.
“That is very much like your mother, you know. Running off without fully understanding the how and where and why.” she said. “What happened after that? You and Ardel were sort of…evasive on that topic.”
Najal looked over at Lisila. “Oh no. It was nothing like that, though there were nights that I wished he would crack and be with me. But he didn’t. He kept bringing up Ellaia every time I tried and that would kill the conversation.” She chuckled. “I think he was a little scared the first times I tried to convince him, but after that I think he figured out that bringing up Ellaia was the only way to convince me that his heart was elsewhere. And then we had to deal with those bandits and I think we finally understood our relationship after we got through that. I feel totally safe when he’s around and I think he knows it. I don’t think he would leave, even if you weren’t ‘commanding’ us to go to Asery. I don’t think he could. I know I couldn’t leave him behind.”
Lisila listened closely as her daughter described the symptoms of a soul pairing. Unlike a life pairing which was set in stone, or not, the first time two people met, a soul pairing could be forged through traumatic circumstances. It resulted in a closeness between two people that neither could deny nor would want to, but it didn’t necessarily involve love. It was simply the discovery of a kindred spirit and the desire to be near them. A life pairing, on the other hand, was the recognition of a missing part of one’s soul and it always involved a deep love for the other person.
Lisila breathed a sigh of relief for she wouldn’t wish a life pairing on a sixteen year old girl who was still discovering her power. “Najal,” she asked, “what exactly happened at the bandit camp?”
Najal sat up and hugged her knees. “Do I have to talk about it?”
Lisila got up and sat next to her. “Would it hurt?”
Najal put her head on her knees. “We were riding towards Biqam, probably only two days shy of the town. It was close to mid-afternoon when an arrow or bolt or something flew out of the woods and landed deliberately short of Ardel’s destrier, Silverfoot. As we reined in, two men stepped from the forest and demanded our money, horses, and weapons. Ardel was contemplating giving them our money, but then they demanded me. And I got mad. That’s when three more of them stepped out of the woods behind us. When they approached, I released my anger like Grandpa Corus showed me except instead of stepping on a bug, I was thinking about slicing through bread. I don’t think I severed any of their legs, but I definitely broke every bone from their knees down. One of the ones that Ardel was facing was distracted by the yelling and Ardel clubbed him in the head with his fist. The other ran. We followed.
We reached a big clearing with a lodge and some tents at the base of a waterfall. The man we were chasing almost got to the camp when the bandits in the camp shot him with crossbows. Then they came out to meet us. After a little pointless talking, their leader came out also. Ardel took on the biggest one of them and killed him easily. Then the rest attacked him and Ardel went into his battle rage. The leader wasn’t armed with any physical weapons, but he was a mage and he tried to place a compulsion on me to join with him. It almost worked except that Ardel somehow knew what was happening despite his rage. He threw a knife at my horse and it hit hilt first, scaring her and jolting me out of the compulsion. This pissed off the leader, but it also pissed me off and when he tried putting another compulsion on me, I threw it off. Then I called the wind and fire. A whirlwind of fire incinerated the leader just as Ardel killed his last opponent. He saw me fall over after the whirlwind dissipated and he thought I was dead. It was afterwards that I realized we weren’t going to be lovers, ever.”
Najal sighed and Lisila’s eyes widened at the confession that Najal had wanted to be Ardel’s lover at all. “Anyway, after resting a little, Ardel went out to start digging graves for the bandits. After I recovered from my performance I went out and joined him. Rather than spending time digging, I just sat down and visualized the corpses getting pushed into the ground, sort of like what I did to Ithen, but with a little more finese. I managed to make their bodies disappear into the ground while leaving their possessions alone. I almost fainted again from that.”
She paused, watching the light play on the waters of the spring. Lisila was amazed and the poise and the power of the girl. She was simultaneously proud of her daughter and scared of the immense danger that she represented.
“The next day we finished picking over the contents of the lodge and the remains left behind from the bandits and then decided to dump the rest of it in the pool at the base of the waterfall. That’s when I heard an echo coming from the waterfall. After a little searching, Ardel found the hidden entrance and we found a cave that had enough bedding for another fifteen or so bandits more than what we faced. There was also a locked door which Ardel couldn’t break down, but I used magic on it to rip the lock out. Beyond that door was a corridor with two doors. Ardel opened one and almost vomited before he closed it again. I never looked in there, but I’m guessing it was full of corpses of all kinds. The other door was locked, but it opened when I grabbed the handle. There was a prison cell in there, Lisila. They strapped people into manacles that hung from the wall and used them to power spells. There as another door that reacted the same way. It opened when I grabbed the handle. Inside was a Pureblade, this staff, a robe, and a sack of coins. I went in to look at them and removed the sack, the Pureblade, and the staff. I had to ‘claim’ the Pureblade and the staff in order to remove them first though. The robe was enormously powerful and I didn’t dare claim it. But when I tried to leave with it, a trap sprang. I couldn’t leave the room. Looking at the spells I saw that they were powered by the prisoners. Or rather, they were powered by the slow bleeding out of the prisoners. Blood magic. I didn’t know what else to do so I sent Ardel to get all the healing supplies he could. In the meantime, I broke the spell that prevented non-mages from entering the room. Ardel showed up at that point and I sank into a deep trance. At the height of the trance, I did this.”
Najal removed the bandages from her arm to reveal the barely healed slash that traveled from wrist to elbow down the inside of her forearm. Lisila hissed. “You performed blood magic!?” she said. “Where did you learn to do that?”
“I read about how some mages in the First Age literally sacrificed themselves by using their own blood to power spells to kill older dragons. I figured that if something can bring down dragons it can probably break blood magic shields. Fortunately, or luckily, I was right. The shields and trap shattered. I don’t really know what happened but I woke up in the cave behind the waterfall, very much alive. After drinking some, I went back and retrieved the items. I couldn’t exactly carry both the staff and Pureblade so I bequeathed the Pureblade to Ardel. Then we made our way here. The only other thing was that we saw this enormously powerful but small storm run over the road from Ardosrion to Biqam. That’s it.”
Lisila whistled softly. “Najal, if I hadn’t been here, listening to you and watching you as you told this, I would not have believed it. There have been great mages through the ages that haven’t done half the things you have done.”
Najal looked up at her with tear-stained cheeks and Lisila wrapped her up in her arms. They sat there together as the light faded from the sky. Finally Lisila let go and stood up. “Child, we should go back. Supper will be on the table by the time we get back.” She helped Najal to her feet. “But first, you should wash up or it will look like I beat you.” She smiled warmly at Najal and Najal returned it with a weak smile of her own.
—-
The next morning, Lisila once again took Najal to the grove alone. When they reached the spring, Lisila look off her robe and boots before rolling up her leggings and wading into the pool where she started pulling weeds from the spring and tossing them onto the bank. Najal watched her for a while before taking her boots off and rolling up her leggings to follow suit. Together they started cleaning out the spring. It was midday when Lisila finally smiled broadly and declared that they were done. The spring ran clear and fresh again. When Najal stripped off the soaked bandage on her arm, she noticed that the wound now looked like it was four or five days healed instead of only one or two days. It was tender and raw, but not in imminent danger of splitting open again. Lisila smiled. “That is one of the benefits of restoring the proper flow of life. It aids healing.” she explained when Najal asked her about the incredible healing rate that her wound experienced.
“Are you really going to come with Ardel and myself?” asked Najal.
Lisila nodded. “Yes, child. Although your days at the Academy are over, your days of learning are not. Do you think you have the energy for a lesson right now?” she said.
Najal thought about it. “It depends on the lesson I guess.”
Lisila smiled. “It’s a lesson about sensing and linking. It will probably be one of the most useful lessons you learn.”
“Well, if that’s all, then sure. I think I can handle a lesson.” replied Najal.
“Very well. Let’s sit down. There’s no reason to stand while we do this,” said Lisila as she sat down with her feet just touching the water. Najal sat next to her and wiggled her toes in the spring.
Lisila started by just sitting there, relaxing. Najal sat quietly, waiting for the lesson to start. Lisila just sat there, humming softly. Ever so slightly, the air above the water started to shimmer and glow. Gradually, the glow intensified until it was bright enough to cast shadows around the grove. Lisila stopped humming and the glow slowly faded. “Did you see that?” gasped Najal. Lisila smiled. “Yes, child, I did. In fact, I created it.” she answered.
Najal looked at her for a moment. “That was the first lesson, wasn’t it?” she asked. “And I wasn’t even paying attention.” She swore softly. Lisila nodded and smiled. “Do not be too hard on yourself. That was actually the second lesson. Many people forget the true first lesson: Always be aware of your surroundings.”
Najal stared at her. “The second lesson? I missed the first one also. I can’t do this.” she sighed, laying on the ground.
Lisila laughed. “Najal, missing one of these lessons isn’t the end of the world. Just remeber, always observe. With all of your senses. What is obvious to your physical senses may be hidden from your magical ones and vice versa. Look around you with your eyes. What do you see?”
“Trees, grass, a spring. I can’t see it, but I can see the result of the breeze. The sun. I can hear the insects in the grass and the trees.” responded Najal. “I can see you, as well.” she said, not wanting to leave out the obvious.
“Very good. Do you see the magic around you with your eyes? Can you tell me where you would look for additional magical reserves?” asked Lisila. Najal just looked blankly at her. Lisila looked back. “You mean? They never told you at the Academy?” she said.
“Never told me what?” asked Najal.
“Never mind. Look with your eyes for a minute. Then looked with your magical senses.” said Lisila, waving away the questions.
Najal looked around at the trees, grass, sky, and water with both her physical and magical senses. When she started looking with her magical senses, the scene changed dramaticly. The quiet spring was a seething, bubbling font of energy. The trees were quiet pillars of light. The sun was still the sun but the quality of the energy coming off was different. The ground was a dark, cold, solid mass that energy drained into. Lisila was a blazing pyre of highly controlled energy.
Lisila nodded. “Good. Now look at yourself.”
Najal looked inwardly and saw another blazing pyre. The difference between Lisila and her was that Lisila had her energy under tight control. On the other hand, Najal’s energy was wild, flaring and fluctuating.
Lisila nodded again. “Good. You see the difference in energy. Now, do you know what that difference means?”
“Other than the fact that you have more practice and experience, I’m going to guess that working magic is easier for you and that it doesn’t hurt as much when you do.” said Najal.
Lisila looked at her and nodded. “Yes, it does mean I have more practice and experience. But I have seen novices that have as much control. And that’s the key. The control stems from confidence. Not over-confidence, mind you. But rock solid confidence and surety. Complete knowledge in your skills and limits. That’s where the stability and control comes from. And yes, as that control improves, magic becomes easier and it will be less draining on you.”
Najal nodded. “So how do I gain that control?”
Lisila looked at her. “For one, you need to stop being afraid of your magic. And despite warnings to the contrary, handling the elements is not a guarantee of corruption, nor does it make it easier for the dragon-spawn to influence you. Those are complete fabrications. The prohibition on elemental magic is purely a means to differentiate us from them. By denying training in elemental magic, we make it easier to detect their agents since skilled elementalists are, by default, agents of the dragons. Add to that the fact that even novice dragon-spawn mages can’t effectively control pure, refined force and we have two ways to detect them.”
She looked at Najal. “You are special, Najal. You have an innate talent with elemental magic as well as pure force. Don’t be afraid of it. As soon as you stop being afraid of your magic, you will no longer fear the results of using it and you will stop restraining yourself so much. That in turn will lessen the pain which will give you more confidence. It is a self-perpetuating cycle. It is also a self-destructive one when you lose confidence. Fortunately, you are balancing on the edge right now. I think that your breaking of those blood magic shields helped pull you out of a potentially self-destructive cycle.”
Najal looked at Lisila and nodded. Lisila smiled and looked up through the trees. “It is getting late and we have much to do before we leave for Asery tomorrow. We can continue these lessons on the road.”
Together they walked back to the manor house in silence.
—-
The next day, Najal bade a tearful farewell to her father as Lisila offered him a look that conveyed a wordless promise of love and hope. He stood in the doorway and waved as the four of them headed back towards Aturoane.
A ten-day later, they were overlooking Asery and Lisila breathed a sigh of relief. There was still time. The past ten days were productive as well. Najal, once she started to understand the basics behind her talents, was a quick study and her energy had stopped flaring as badly. It still pulsed, sometimes violently, but it wasn’t the raw flashes and flares of before. And she was able to feel those pulses and bring them under control with ease.