I laughed and kissed her gently. “I had to prove to your sister last night that this wasn’t a dream. Do I have to prove it to you tonight?”
“If you’ll prove it the same way she told me you proved it to her, yes! I was hoping that you would want me to come to your room tonight. I think that’s the way the Queen said I was supposed to phrase that.”
I laughed again. “We have Aunt Alba, who is the wizard trainer. Now we have Aunt Isabel who is the Consort trainer. Who’s going to be next? My mother the construction worker trainer? Speaking of my mother, we’d better find her soon or I’ll be in trouble for not introducing my newest family members!”
Aunt Alba came over to join us. “Carol, I’m so happy to see you again! My son said that you’re a sorceress and I was the one that found you, so I get to claim some credit. Now, introduce me to these ladies you discovered in the other realm.”
“This is Amanda and her sister Barbara. They weren’t happy in the life they were stuck in and accepted our offer to help. Then those two becoming Consorts just sorta happened after that. You know how lovable these Stephenson men are. They are really hoping that you’ll get your girls to show them some magic. I don’t think that they’d be as interested in my sorceress magic, even though my stun did come in handy once.”
“Well, my girls are ready to show them what they’ve learned so far. We’ll start on the right end and work our way up from there. Shield your ladies, please. Accidents can and do happen when someone is learning magic!”
Alba led us to the novice end of the range and signaled the girls to begin. A volley of magic arrows brought gasps and applause from the sisters. Alba grinned at their reaction and moved to the adepts. Their energy bolts really got the girls’ attention when they realized that those spells could do some serious damage. The next two stops were what I was really looking forward to. Alba had a half dozen apprentices lined up and they simultaneously cast flamestrike on the targets down range. Barb and Amanda both screamed and ran backwards from the line, even though the spells had been cast twenty yards away. The wizard girls laughed, because they’d been affected that way too, not that long ago. We calmed the girls and moved back to our spot for the final demonstration.
Alba nodded to the group of experts and one nodded to her spotter. The spotter amplified her voice and called, “Meteor Swarm!”
Barbara looked up at me and asked, “What’s a meteor swarm? That’s not like bees, is it? I hate bees!”
I shook my head with a grin, then noticed that the caster had overheard and was looking in our direction. Gravel, dead grass and sticks started rising from the ground around us and disappearing. The girl that had cast the spell went absolutely white and began screaming, “Mis-target! Mis-target!”
Alba and I instantly threw dome shields over the area and crossed our fingers. Dome shields had never been tested against the meteor swarm spell.
Carol stared at the sky, looking at something that none of us could see. Suddenly the burning stones popped into existence and Carol clapped her hands over her head. The hair on our heads and arms stood up, and an incredibly powerful bolt of lightning came from my little bride. The bolt struck the stones, shattering them to sand. A light rain of sand and dust settled on the shields while we all stared at Carol.
She shrugged. “I told you that I could do almost anything with lightning now. It seemed safer to rain sand than those huge rocks!”
Alba and I hugged her while the sisters slowly backed away. The girl that had cast the spell was sobbing, and that’s what grabbed Carol’s attention. She went to her and hugged her. She comforted her by telling her that mistakes happen and she’d learned a valuable lesson. She quietly told about the lightning storm and the tornadoes that she’d caused. The girl relaxed, picked up her wand from the ground where she’d thrown it, and walked with her friends toward the dorm.
Carol waved the sisters to her and it was clear that they were terrified by what they’d seen. They went to her slowly and were stiff as boards as she hugged them. I waited for her to talk to them and Alba came over to me.
“Did you see what she did? That was the most impressive display of magic I’ve seen without Davie around! I guess that what Della told us was right on the mark. Her magic is certainly more powerful than I would have imagined.”
I chuckled nervously. “Now I know I won’t ever complain about her cooking. Intercepting a caster’s most powerful spell like she did scares even me! I’m glad she loves me and is on our team. Thank you for the display, my dear Aunt. Perhaps some of the experts need a refresher course in focus. Just a suggestion.”
Everyone was warned before we dropped the dome shields and sand rained across the area. It slid off the shielded girls and I gathered my little family to me. “This has been quite an interesting morning! I can tell that you Vegas girls were scared badly by Carol’s spell. Just remember that we love you and our magic won’t ever hurt you. She had to do that to keep you from getting hurt. Now I suggest that we fly over to Kastan and have lunch at the inn there. They usually have a really nice stew.”
The girls agreed with my plan, so we wrapped the sisters in bubbles and lifted off. We climbed to a thousand feet, grinning at the sisters’ giggles. We accelerated to a good travel speed and arrived in the closest town to Wizard’s Castle. We landed on the outskirts and walked in. The girls seemed to have gotten over the shock of seeing Carol’s very powerful spell, but they looked at her with a new respect.
As we entered the inn, the innkeeper greeted us. “Good noontide to ya, Alec! Are ya here for a room or just for lunch today?”
“We’re just here for lunch today. We’re hanging out and visiting with the family at the castle for a few days. I told my beautiful wife and my lovely Consorts that you had a great stew here. I hope you have some for us!”
The man grinned happily. “Of course we do. Can I get you drinks before I serve it up?”
I looked at the girls around the table. “Wine, ale or water for you ladies? The man knows I’m a big fan of his ale, so what will you have?”
Barbara leaned across the table close to me. “Amanda and I like wine, but we don’t even have real ID’s, let alone fake ones. There’s no way this guy’s gonna buy us being twenty-one!”
I laughed. “We’ll have three glasses of wine for the ladies and my ale, of course. Then we’ll have that stew! I haven’t found anything like it in two realms.”
The innkeeper grinned happily and went to the back. We all stared at Amanda, who was gazing off into space, shaking her head. She looked up and saw that she was the center of attention. “I was just thinking, we live here now and even simple things that we grew up with, like the drinking age, are different. Will we ever fit in here?”
Carol put an arm around her and I replied comfortingly, “Life is different all over. Different cultures have different rules and people are really good at adapting. I’ve traveled all over this world and seen many strange things, but I learned to fit in. I’m sure that I’d be feeling the same way as you are if I were living on the Vegas Strip all of a sudden.”
She smiled, seemingly comforted a bit, and the innkeeper returned with our drinks. A young lady set bowls, spoons and bread in front of us and left us to our meal.
While we were eating, Barbara asked, “What do you have to do to learn that magic stuff like we saw? I saw some girls that looked really young out there, working with those arrow spells. If anyone can learn it, I’d sure like to give it a shot!”
I smiled, happy that she hadn’t been completely scared away from magic by the day’s events. “There is a little test that my Aunt Alba gives people to check for magic. It’s pretty simple, but you should know that not many folks have magic. It’s less than twenty percent of the people she tests who pass. If you wanted to take the test I could arrange it, but I wouldn’t want you to be to upset if you didn’t pass.”
“It’s not like I’ve hoped to do magic my whole life. If I could, that would be cool; if I can’t, it ain
’t no biggie. I’d like to try when we get back, if Alba isn’t busy.”
I nodded. “How about you, Amanda? Do you think that you’d be interested in trying that, too?”
She shrugged. “It might be cool. You sure as hell won’t catch me doing that meteor swarm spell though! I don’t think we saw what it was supposed to do, but I saw enough to know that I don’t want to see it again!”
We laughed, finished our meal, paid and tipped the staff and headed back to the castle. On the way, Carol called to me, “We need to stop by the dorm for a few minutes. I want to wash some of this grit off and I’m sure the girls do, too.”
I nodded my agreement and altered our course slightly. We landed on the roof of the dorm and made our way inside. I followed the girls in and almost ran over Barbara when she stopped short. “Hello everyone! I’m glad I caught you all together, it will save time with the introductions. I’m Alice.”
Carol went to her and hugged her. “Hello, Mother, we wondered where you were hiding. Alec has mentioned a couple times that you’d be interested in meeting these girls. This is Amanda and Barbara, our Consorts! We met them on our short visit to Father’s realm and couldn’t leave them behind. Girls, this is Alec’s mother, Alice. She’s one of the sweetest ladies you’ll ever meet, nothing like that mean ol’ Alec!”
The girls nodded to Mother and she went to them and hugged them both. “You must be quite special if Alec took you as Consorts! He’s sworn all his life that he’d never have even one. But, he also said that he doubted that he’d marry. Carol changed that for him. This makes me even happier about the project I started after you two went off on your trip.”
I gave a questioning look and asked, “What have you been up to, Mother? I can see a secret behind that smile.”
“All I’ll tell you is that Raven and I are working on a wedding present for you and your family. It’s not finished yet and I’m not giving up any more, so you can just drop it now. I heard that there was a bit of excitement at the range today. Carol, are you okay after casting a spell that powerful? It didn’t drain you or anything, did it?”
Carol smiled and shook her head. “According to the family expert, Davie, my magic won’t get drained as long as there is air. I do think that I’ve made everyone here a bit afraid of me, though.”
Mother hugged her again. “Just be yourself, sweetheart, and they’ll get over that fear. From what I was told, you may have saved the lives of my son, Alba and over a dozen trainees. David and Isabel have heard about it and want to have a dinner in your honor tonight.”
Carol blushed. “I didn’t do anything that anyone else on the range wouldn’t have done if they could have. I just happened to have the right spell for the job and reacted. I wasn’t wanting any special treatment.”
I laughed. “They’ve just realized what the girls and I already know about you, Carol. You’re a wonderful and special person and deserve to be recognized for what you did today. Now, you and the girls can go clean up and we’ll see about getting them tested.”
The girls went to the water closet and Mother walked to where she could whisper to me, “The intensity of the spell that she used must have been incredible! Blowing apart the stones just after they solidified is something that I wouldn’t even try. You know that when the magic compacts those stones, they are very hard, and that’s part of why they cause so much damage. I bet your young lady would rival even Davie!”
“Mother, she is gentle, loving and caring. The first thing she did after her spell was comfort the expert that had made the mistake. I don’t think that I want to take her to Gormesol, though. If Seth’s healing magic caused that little cult group he had, imagine if people saw what she could do! She could single-handedly have an army turn tail and run!”
“Gormesol isn’t the only place that something like that could happen. Now that she’s seemingly obsessed with your Father’s realm, it could happen there, too. You have discussed all this with her, I’m hoping?”
“Of course; we don’t use magic around people unless we have to and then only hidden spells. She had to stun a man, and you could barely see the flash from the spell. The girls thought she had used some kind of machine on him.”
“Very good, then; I’ll see you and yours at dinner. I love you, son.” She slipped out the door and was gone.
Chapter Twelve
With the girls all cleaned up and ready to attempt the test, we flew from the roof to the range. Alba had gotten things settled back down and came to meet us.
She hugged us all and then asked, “What brings you back so soon? I thought your girls would be terrified of magic now and would want to stay away.”
I laughed. “Actually, they were wondering if you’d be willing to test them. They thought that having magic of their own would be nice. Carol and I would both be willing and able to teach them if one of them does pass. We’ve explained the odds to them and they’re ready to go.”
Aunt Alba turned into Instructor Alba in a blink. “Ladies, why don’t you follow me over here where we won’t be bothered by the trainees. I’ll test you both at the same time so I only have to go through the explanation once. The most important part to pay attention to is the instruction on focus and intent. You got a good example today of what can happen when your focus isn’t what it should be. We won’t be working with anything as scary as that was, but starting with a good focus early is a good habit to develop. Intent is what makes it all happen, understand?”
My girls nodded cautiously and I knew that they partially understood. I knew Alba and knew that she’d make everything clear before the actual test began. Carol and I watched as two fist-sized rocks were placed in front of the girls. They were given the new and improved instructions that seemed to be revised monthly. My Aunt was a bit of a perfectionist.
Finally the girls were told their activator word and allowed to make the attempt. As they focused, their hands crept toward each other and they laced their fingers together. Both rocks suddenly jumped into the air and began to glow red hot. Alba scooted on her backside to get away from the heat that she could feel through her shield. The girls looked at each other and grinned.
I shook myself into action and applauded. “Well done, ladies! Now go ahead and drop the rocks. I’d like to see something.”
Alba jumped up, shaking her head. “Not this time, young man. I stood by and waited for all your tests once.” Then Carol and I, and most the wizards in Eredwynn heard, “Davie, I have a situation that needs your attention right away. I’m at the range by Wizard’s Castle.”
A brightly glowing mage popped in beside Alba within seconds. “What’s the matter, Mother? Are you all right?”
Alba took a deep breath and spoke with a strained voice. “I would like for you to see what these young ladies can do. You should relax a bit, because your glow is frightening them and they won’t work as well if they are scared. I might quit taking Alec’s recommendations after this!”
Davie walked over to Amanda and Barbara. “Good afternoon, young ladies. I’m Davie, Alba’s son. I guess you were taking the magic test and something unexpected happened. Would you mind doing that again for me?”
They looked at me for reassurance and I gave them what I hoped was a comforting nod. They walked back over to the test area and sat down with Davie right behind them. They sat staring at their test stones for a couple minutes before I decided to have them try something.
“Sorry to interrupt ladies, but if I remember right, just before the stones floated last time, you were holding hands. Maybe you could try that again and see if it would work better for you?”
The girls shrugged, joined hands and turned back to the rocks. The stones jumped into the air as soon as they began to focus. They then turned red hot as the focus was maintained. Davie had seen enough. “Thank you very much, ladies. It is a great honor for me to meet you. The centaurs have legends of Pyromancers, but there is very little known about them. Someday I’d like for you and your family to come to my cast
le so I can learn more about you.”
The girls nodded shyly and came to stand by me. I smiled at Davie. “When you invited them and their family, you didn’t know who you were inviting! I’d like to introduce Amanda and Barbara, my Consorts. We’d love to come visit you some time but for the time being, what can you tell us?”
Davie chuckled and asked, “Have you tried to see in their minds like you did with Carol when she found her ability? That would be the first thing that I would suggest. The legends say that when pyromancers are discovered, they will always be in pairs. It’s almost as if one is heat and the other fuel, like a fire would need. When they are new to their powers, they have to be connected, which is why the girls had to hold hands. As they become accustomed to using their magic, they will be able to work alone. Because Carol asked on her visit to Perlsea, I just thought of this. Their magic will recharge more quickly during the day, in the sun, and slowly at night. There was no record of being drained and incapacitated, they just can’t do magic when they aren’t charged.”
I looked behind me and saw that my father, mother, aunts and most of my siblings were on the range. Alba’s panicked telepathy had brought everyone who could get away from their duties. I laughed, while shaking my head. “Aunt Alba, if you wanted a family reunion, you could have sent letters. But this will save me some trouble in the long run. Everyone, I’d like for you to meet my wife, Carol. And these lovely ladies are our Consorts, Amanda and Barbara. Yes, the wanderer is married with Consorts.”
There was applause and some laughter. The crowd began to break up as they realized that the world wasn’t coming to an end. I was impressed by the amount of power that had been summoned by that one thought from one of the founders. I went over to Davie and Alba. “Davie, there is supposed to be a dinner tonight and I hope you’ll stick around. I think that I’ll take my family up to my room and talk to them. If I can reach their minds, like I did with Carol, it would be very helpful. If you’re still here, you could help if I run into anything I need assistance with.”
Alec the Wanderer: Generations of Eredwynn #4 Page 13