Power

by Doug Burbey

  Created? Summoned? Or a type of Fae from their realm?

  The questions occupied him to the point that when they walked into a room with three tables surrounded by chairs that looked out on the atrium, he couldn't have said how he got there. Lewl sat at one of the tables looking out at the view. Her face calm and unruffled.

  The creature pointed to her table then turned and sped off. He followed its path as it disappeared around a corner to where, if his nose had any accuracy, resided the kitchen. ‘It’ seemed appropriate, as assigning a gender felt inaccurate, almost wrong. Frowning he headed over to Lewl who inclined her head at one of the chairs. It put his back to the opening, but at this point just about anyone here could probably kill him even if he saw them coming, so he didn't figure it mattered much. He pulled out the chair and sat down.

  "Morning."

  "Bright morning to you. How fared your sleep?" She actually sounded interested and he started to reply with a normal answer that meant nothing when he stopped and thought about it.

  "Solid actually. No dreams. I feel rested." That realization came as a shock. He couldn't remember the last time he'd slept without nightmares, without dead friends haunting him in his dreams. Usually, he woke up exhausted and aching for a drink to chase away the taste of the dreams in his head.

  "Good. I had thought anyone who fought as you did would have after effects. The room is warded to allow for dreamless sleep or at least no dreams that will reach your consciousness."

  He sat there quiet for a moment. "Thank you." He meant it, the night of sleep was as great a gift in some ways as the training.

  She shrugged. "Having a student that is tired and distracted is dangerous to everyone. Would you like some tea?"

  Her change of topics between one breath and another still disoriented him. His mind still caught on the idea of dreamless sleep.

  "Do you have coffee?"

  "Unfortunately not. We find the levels of caffeine inherent in the way humans process the coffee beans is harmful. Chocolate is available though."

  No coffee.

  He wanted to whine, but he'd made it through deployments with no coffee, he'd make it through this. Addictions were weaknesses after all.

  "Tea would be great. Maybe chocolate later in the day."

  Lewl poured him a cup of tea. He lifted it, expecting the bland tea he'd had a few times they'd deployed to England, before the demons. But instead of the brownish water he expected, it was an almost radiant yellow with the essence of lemon, ginger, and something sweet. Sipping it, the flavors burst across his mouth like a spring breeze, blowing away the clouds in his mind.

  "That is impressive. Why haven't I had tea like this before?"

  "Hand harvesting, keeping the magic of the plants in the tea makes all the difference."

  "I'll say." He went to set the cup of tea down and almost sloshed it as a plate of food sat in front of him where he would have put down the cup. He had no idea how it got there. Shaking his head he redirected, setting the cup down and looked at the food - fruit, something that looked like crepes, nuts, and cheese.

  Bacon is probably not going to be anything I get while I'm here. Oh well. Never turn down free food.

  He dug in and again he found himself enjoying the intricate flavors and combinations, though it tasted like nothing he'd ever eaten before. But when the plate had been cleaned, he found himself full. Pushing all that from his mind, he focused on Lewl, who had eaten her own meal, though hers had more fruit and cheese than his.

  "Now what? More training?"

  "Yes. I believe we will see how you handle earth magic. You have the skills, but the corruption in your channels concern me. If you are ready?" She rose from the chair, the move elegant.

  "Sure. I'm ready." He pushed back, cringing a bit when the chair scraped across the stone floor.

  Someday I'll figure out how to be elegant and mysterious, because I really need to up my game.

  He followed her out to the area, but she veered and he found two pillows waiting for them next to a burbling spring. Once again, they were encircled by the metal rings, just barely visible. An idea sparked in the back of his mind and he filed it as a future possibility.

  When they were both seated she nodded at the stream. "This taps down into a natural spring, but we would like it to create a loop around this area. It will make watering easier and provide calming, soothing music to our mediations. Leaving your protections down, I would like you to watch what I do, how I work with earth. It is slower and more resistant than living beings as it moves so slow. First the earth part, then I will show you how to work with water. It is liquid and fast and more forgiving, but also more powerful than earth or life."

  That didn't make much sense to Shane but he let himself sink down into the almost meditative state he needed to see her working with magic. He really needed to learn how to see it, but from her simple comment, he doubted he had the ability or maybe it was a physical aspect. Could their physiology be different?

  It took him a minute, but he found her magic a bright pulsing ball near one side of the spring.

  "You see where I am holding my powers?"

  "Yes. Though I don't see the spring or the water having any magic."

  Humor laced her voice and he wondered if she smiled, but opening his eyes would have disrupted his concentration. "Look deeper. Water magic is very subtle. See where it moves and what follows and leads. "

  Well, that helped not at all.

  Grousing a bit he focused on the water, but her magic kept drawing his attention wanting to soak into it, absorb it the way he did demon blood.

  Bad thought, bad thought. No thinking of draining the nice Fae lady.

  He forced his attention back and hoped she hadn't noticed where his thoughts went. There, his mind locked on the softest ripple of power above and before the water. It felt like trying to see a heat shimmer on a highway, not obvious at all, but once you found it, you almost couldn't unsee it.

  "Found it. It ripples around the water with its own patterns."

  "Yes. Now look for the earth surrounding it. It is hard, dense, slow to move where water flows and ebbs never attacking, always retreating, yet controlling.

  Please save me from cryptic people.

  The problem with that grousing was her words always made sense once he found it. Maybe not cryptic, maybe she just thought that way, in flows and ebbs of thought, the way he still thought in strategy and attack.

  With a deep sigh, he looked, sorting her magic into one type, the rippling water into another. He looked for dense solid power. It might have taken an hour or a day, but finally he realized the dark earth he'd been ignoring wasn't the earth but the power that laced through it. Expecting earth to be there, he'd dismissed it.

  Idiot, you can't SEE anything like this, so why did you assume what you felt could be ignored.

  "Found it."

  "Then follow what I do with my magic." Her voice held no impatience though he suspected he'd made her wait for hours. Her magic unfurled from the tight sphere of energy and nudged the earth on one side. The magic of water followed her as she nudged, and the earth gave. Its dense wall crumbled a bit and the water flowed into it.

  "Do you see how I find the weaknesses, the cracks in the magic and encourage them to widen?"

  Shane tilted his head, trying to see it differently. He focused in on the magic. What he had seen as a solid dense wall, was really made of thousands of pieces of magic piled on top of each other. Her magic flowed around the pieces and encouraged the gaps between them to widen to spread out a bit. The magic of water flowed right behind, keeping it open and letting real water hold it. Slow and gentle, she wove a way through, seeking out the overlaps and leaving each piece of earth magic alone.

  "Yes, I think I see that. But, why do it like that? It takes so long."

  "Time is not so precious that it must be hoarded like a last breath. How would you do it?"

  He felt her magic pull back and he could feel the gener
al channel she'd been creating, starting to curve a bit to follow the inside of the atrium. There would probably be a trap involved in his, but he could feel the power in that sphere. It didn't make sense.

  "Why not like this?" Carefully, making sure he didn't go too far, he took his power and pulled on the magic of the water then shoved. The water magic bent at first but then it shattered the overlapping plates of earth magic letting it crumble behind as the water with his power behind it easily defeated the earth magic blocking the way.

  "Stop." He did instantly though her voice held no emotion at all. Which bugged him more than her neutrality had. "Open your eyes and come with me."

  Shane let his eyes open, blinking at a bit at the brightness. He rose and moved over to where she knelt next to the stream that started away from the spring.

  "Here, this what I did where I let the water find its way through the natural weaknesses in the earth." She pointed to a part of the stream where the water flowed, clear and bright, the earth looking like it had slowly worn away over centuries. "Over here is where you forced it through."

  His eyes had already been drawn to the next part. It looked like someone had taken a shovel and broken everything up to make a rough channel. The water had dirt and rocks in it, the path felt forced and lacked the calm feeling of her section.

  "While your way will work, it takes longer for the magic and the physical aspects to settle. If time and need is not greatly pressing, why not do it the slow way, ensuring everything is healthy and whole when you are finished?"

  Shane searched her voice for condemnation, but he came up empty. He looked at the stream and saw the destruction and damage, and part of him mourned. But he also saw the power in using the magic of other things, to make what he wanted to be a reality.

  So subtle and people might not notice. Use the power and it gets done, but it damages and is obvious.

  "I see." He didn't say anything else but turned to look at her.

  "See if you can repair the damage. Dinner will be waiting in your room, we missed the lunch hour."

  He glanced up and noticed the sun starting to set, he had taken hours to find all the magic. Too slow. He needed to get better.

  She rose and walked away and Shane looked at the stream again, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

  Repair, then create a new path. If I take that idea to the potential I saw in that proto-portal, can I create it, coax it into a new world, pull in the types of magic I'd need to create my own universe.

  That idea thrummed and sounded right. With a smile he sat down. Keeping his eyes open, he learned to feel the magic, and merge it back into a cohesive whole. Night had fallen before he finished and sweat dripped down his back. Repairing proved much harder than doing it the right way in the first place, but what he learned made all the effort worth it.

  Staggering with exhaustion he made it back to his room, consoling himself that he wouldn't die from eating fruit. To his surprise a large steak, a fruit salad with nuts, cheese, and a potato loaded with sour cream and cheese awaited him. With relief, he ate. The food tasted wonderful and he stood swaying with exhaustion, but he didn't collapse into bed.

  A shower, his teeth brushed, and clean clothes helped. Only then did he let himself fall asleep, something deep, comforting, and a gift he knew he'd never get again, once he left this place

  7

  Price of Magic

  Morning found him wide awake again and he wondered how their magic managed to pull him up at the exact time to rise. Shrugging it away as a useless bit of magic, he took a shower and put on the clean clothes waiting for him. If nothing else, whatever staff they had here made most five-star hotels seems clumsy in comparison.

  When he opened his door the same creature, or at least he couldn't see that it wasn't the same one, waited for him.

  "Food served. Lady Lewl waits." A hint of disapproval in the voice as it turned and headed back to the same place as yesterday.

  Shane couldn't decide if he should be offended or amused. The decision still warred in his head as he reached the table Lewl sat at. In contrast to her previous outfits today she wore long pants, a long-sleeved thick shirt, and a floppy brimmed hat.

  As he sat she poured him some tea, her face serene as always.

  "Morning."

  It occurred to him he'd never heard her say his name, either first or last. That idea tickled the back of his mind, but he let it go.

  He lifted the tea. This time it tasted of green, nuts, and a hint of ocean over the trees. It cleared the clouds from his minds and he wondered if he'd miss the tea when he left.

  Again a plate appeared before he set the tea down, but this time he expected it so didn't spill. The offering was an omelet with rich cheese, tomatoes, onions, and spices. Fruit and yogurt on one side covered with nuts balanced it out. He couldn't remember the last time he had eaten so well. He focused on his food, pushing everything else to the side until his plate had been cleared and his teacup empty.

  "I have something different in mind for today. If you would change into clothes appropriate for a trip into the jungle it would be best."

  What is she up to? I'm pretty sure if she killed me it would violate the geas.

  "Sure. Give me a few." He stood up from the table and headed back up to his room. Stripping out of the loose comfortable clothes, he headed back downstairs moments later in jeans, his Guns & Roses 1980s retro concert T-shirt, and a long sleeve denim button up over it. The boots from the last days of the war rode snug on his feet, metal plate front and back, they'd stop any snakes and he'd worn them for so long they felt natural. His jungle hat rode on his head and he held a small rucksack in one hand.

  Lewl waited for him, calf high boots matching the picture. She held a small backpack also.

  "Here, bottles of water. They will purify any water put in them."

  Oooh, I need to learn that spell. That would be very helpful.

  He took the water and the food packets she handed him. He also had a knife and rope along with a small first aid kit. The jungle had no patience with fools, though he'd been delighted to realize if he let a small amount of magic vibrate through him biting insects didn't come near him. That had been a wonderful discovery.

  She looked him over once, nodded, and then strode to the door. Shane had to do a double step to catch up. For a woman who only came to his shoulders, she moved fast. It disturbed him.

  Opening the door, she paused, then stepped out into the street and turned, heading away from the city. Shane followed. The noise of the city felt like a blow after the peaceful serenity of the Fae enclave. He almost wanted to turn back and hide in that peace. Grinding his teeth he caught up to her and concentrated on noting where they were going. The last thing he wanted to do was get abandoned in the jungle.

  Lewl didn't talk as she walked. She kept up a steady pace and in an hour the last sounds of the city disappeared behind them. She didn't speak for another half hour, then she slowed as they found an area that looked like someone had tried to clear it. Probably created to grow drug crops, but it obviously had failed or never been finished. Looking around the area she nodded.

  "This should do. Come, I want to show you the problem with your way of using the magic. Do not get me wrong, there are valid reasons for your methods, but you need to see the side effects. That way you will not do it in my home and you will understand the cost. Even with your corruption, you still see how things work and what can happen."

  Lewl stopped near a few big trees about five feet away. A small sapling pushed its way up through the forest floor, reaching towards the sun the clear cutting had enabled it to feel.

  "When we worked with the plant I told you not to force it. This time I want you to take this sapling and make it grown, figure at least twenty years worth of growth. You may either stop when you feel it has grown enough, when you get fatigued, or when I tell you to stop."

  Where is the catch. She stopped me so firmly before, why now?

  He tried not to
glare but he couldn't help appraising her, wondering. But she stood there, face calm as she waited for him. Shane sighed and drew a quick circle in the soil. This would take enough power he didn't want to risk having it snap and hurt her. That would cause problems.

  With the circle drawn, he sat, pushing a tree that far would drain him, and passing out and breaking your circle with your face had a tendency to hurt as the magic seared through you. He sealed the circle and then reached. The entire area overflowed with life and he had to keep opening his eyes to see if he had the right sapling, then closing them and finding it again. But after a bit, he finally could look and find it almost immediately.

  See, I am learning.

  With the sapling firmly in his mind and gripped by his magic, Shane began to push. It went slowly at first. He could feel the resistance, so he drew harder. There was so much magic, all he had to do was pull it in and feed it into the tree. Once he got the hang of it, it went fast. He pulled magic in and flooded it into the tree. It radiated power and he could sense when it grew at least as tall as the other trees. His eyes drifted open and he gazed at the tree, now a good thirty feet in the air, it's branches bright and full of leaves. He glanced at the sun and excitement surged through him when he saw it wasn't much past noon.

  I did it, see? That is so much better.

  He stood, pulling the circle open and absorbed the magic back into him. It helped counter his exhaustion.

  "See, isn't that awesome?" His voice had all his pride it in, but dammit, he'd done that.

  "Yes. It is a mighty tree. Come with me." Her voice held nothing. No awe at his power, or agreement of what he'd done.

  He fought back the wave of resentment as he followed her.

  Grow up. You aren’t twelve. Anything you do can always be done better. Since when did it matter if you impressed your instructors? Okay so it has always mattered. But quit pouting.

  Annoyed at himself he tried to get out of the funk as they approached his towering tree.

  "Yes, you grew the tree, but look." Her hand trailed along the ground pointing at things as they walked. It took him a minute to refocus and actually see what she pointed out. The plants there, the brush and ground cover breaking through were all wizened and dead. Shane blinked, frowning.