Daughter Of The Wind --Western Wind
Page 17
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That evening after supper, Johann and Tomas sat with her around the table. "When I told you to learn the relaxation method to view your magical energy, I didn't foresee you being able to project yourself with no further instruction.” A small amount of color suffused Johann’s cheeks. “Tomas berated me for my error. I know how much potential you have. I should have monitored your progress more closely. What did I tell you was the first thing anybody with magic should be taught?"
Pink thought back to their trip and answered, "Shields."
"Correct. Perhaps if you had the ability to shield properly, your Familiar would not get so distressed when you venture out of sight.”
The two old men exchanged nervous glances and both looked out the window to the forest where they now knew some unknown source of magic lay.
Used to lay. She corrected the interpretation of that glance. She pondered whether either of the men would believe her if she told them the truth about exactly what had lived there.
Tomas took up the speech, “Without shielding, your body and your spirit are vulnerable to attacks, both physical and magical. Angel is very wise to worry so much about you. I'll teach you the mundane part of learning to Heal while Johann teaches you shields."
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She applied herself to learning the skill of Healing. In order to heal the human body she had to know a great deal about how one worked. She was ahead of the game with the knowledge she’d learned studying herbs and how they affected different ailments. But a large amount of time was spent learning the facts of human physiology.
She and Johann worked side by side with Tomas and Terri, seeding the fields, hoeing the weeds, and in the first months of summer, harvesting the early crops, while Johann coached her on shields and Tomas quizzed her on anatomy. When he believed she firmly grasped anatomy, Tomas began telling her how to use the green energy of her aura to remove scar tissue, and heal wounds, internal and external. Johann helped her learn how to view other peoples’ auras to tell where a problem might lie in their physical well-being.
Shortly after the early summer crops were harvested the two men were confident she had a firm foundation in the art of Healing. She started performing the basics, like, knitting skin over a scrape Johann got when he had climbed up to her nook by the waterfall.
She placed her hands over the scratch and channeled some of the energy of earth, envisioning the wound closing and new skin growing. As the wound on Johann's leg closed Pink's eyes widened at the burning sensation on her own leg. She looked down fully expecting to see the wound transferred to herself. Reassured that no blood ran down her own leg, she mentioned the pain to Johann
Johann smiled at her. “We wanted you to know you could Heal before telling you of the pain. Many promising young Healers never find their gift because the fear of pain stifles their talent. The scratch was minor, merely an irritation. Larger healings require more personal sacrifice.”
Gently he explained the phenomena to her. "Healing comes with a price. You must take the pain to yourself, to allow the casualty to heal. The pain will not cause you any damage, just discomfort. You must give of your energies to knit together muscle and grow skin. That is why for minor things, like this scratch, magical Healing is not normally used. The scratch would have healed on its own and caused me very little discomfort, so why should a Healer suffer for it?"
Gazing at the newly formed pink skin of the wound he smiled. "This time, it created a very good way to start. You will be taking care of all sorts of minor wounds for now. Only through experience can you be ready if you ever need to Heal anything more serious.” He turned to leave, then twisted to look back to her. “However I think that our time here is over. We have imposed on good friends far longer than I ever intended and I would dearly love to see if I can find my grandson. If you've no objections I would like to go to Relante."
Anxious to be going but dreading the exposure to those who may be watching for her, she said, “As long as it doesn't take me anywhere close to Garec, I don't care where we go."
"Don't worry. I intend to continue north, and when we get to Trell, we'll turn east, and then south to Relante.”
He considered her problem. “I dropped the webs when Garec returned south so we‘ll have to use caution. You never know where he'll turn up. Like I said before, he travels a lot. As a merchant, he also has a lot of folk that will keep their eyes open for him if he asks."
The next day they said their farewells.
Terri hugged Pink. "You’re the closest thing to a daughter I've ever known. If you get back this way you had better stop to see us."
Angel matured during the months they spent there. He stood in the group, as close to Pink as he could possibly get, but no longer terrified of the others. Ready to follow wherever she led.
Chapter 9