Harmonic Magic Series Boxed Set

by P. E. Padilla

  “Good.” Rindu said. “Very good. Now take your blindfold off.”

  Sam did as he was directed. “How did I do that?” he asked the Zouy.

  “You came into unity with your inner mind. People sometimes do that when they are tired and have given up. The body requires complete relaxation to properly use the rohw. If you think too much, your conscious mind interferes. It is like a bitter old wife who argues with everything. ‘You cannot do that. It is impossible’ the old woman says to her husband. Unless he can convince himself she is wrong, he will never achieve anything. So too it is with your mind, your bitter old woman.” He chuckled softly at his own joke.

  “So, you poked and prodded and frustrated me for the last hour just to get me to the point where I would give up?” Sam asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s try again. I think I can do it again.”

  “No. You have felt it, but you will not be able to achieve it again today, now that your body is arguing with itself. Give it time. You will develop the skill to find that place more easily as we train further.”

  “But can’t we try one more time?” Sam begged.

  “No. Or would you be like the man who boasted that he could eat more than anyone else and often engaged in contests to do just that? One day he challenged a stranger to an eating contest and he lost. As he slunk away, ashamed, he was heard to mutter: ‘I do not understand. I was able to eat much more than that in practice an hour ago.’”

  Sam looked to Rindu, started to turn, and then jerked his head back to look at Rindu once again. He knew he must be wearing a quizzical look on his face. “Um. Ok, maybe another time.” Shaking his head, he headed toward the fire that Dr. Walt had made to prepare lunch.

  Chapter 21

  Sam stood next to his rakkeban, whom he named Shonyb. The name was a loose translation of “fang” in Old Kasmali and it seemed fitting. Sam absently ran his fingers through Shonyb’s fur, thinking of his quest and the training he’d been receiving.

  Rindu had been correct, of course, about him not being able to sense the currents of the rohw for the rest of the day the Zouy tested him. Not only was he unable to do so when he tried immediately after his experience with Rindu’s testing, but he was unable to duplicate his feat for two days after. Alone or aided by Rindu or Nalia, he had been unable to sense it again.

  For several days after the blindfold training, he had small bruises all over his body from where Rindu poked at him with the chunks of steel he called fingers. How could anyone have skin that hard? He was pretty sure that even if someone could strike the Zouy with a sword, it wouldn’t pierce his skin. The sword may well break.

  Thinking of the last two weeks, a small shadow of a smile played across his face. It was hard work, but he was enjoying it. At times he didn’t feel as if he was progressing at all, but then he would think about where he started months ago, alone and ignorant of this world, and he suddenly realized how far he had come. He still couldn’t get back home, though he continued to try each night, but still, he did have some progress to show for his efforts.

  After Sam’s bonding with Shonyb and the other rakkeben were summoned, the small group made good time. They would travel for most of the day and then stop at a likely place to set up camp. No sooner was camp set up than Sam began his daily ritual of training and learning.

  He was learning to speak Kasmali more correctly, thanks to Dr. Walt’s help. He could read and write it and some Old Kasmali, too, which helped as he tried to read some of the ancient records the doctor brought along with them. He no longer hesitated in trying to speak with the others. He had shifted, quite suddenly one day from thinking in English and translating into Kasmali to actually thinking in Kasmali. It was as if everything suddenly clicked into place.

  A feeling of being watched sprung into Sam’s mind, interrupting his thoughts. He looked to his right and Rindu was standing there next to him, causing Sam to start. How did the man do that? He didn’t think he’d ever get used to it.

  “Sam,” the Zouy said, “I need you to come with me. There is something we must do.” Patting Shonyb on the head once more, he followed Rindu toward a thick stand of trees. Skitter ambled alongside Sam, curious.

  What are we doing?, the hapaki sent.

  I don’t know. Rindu just wanted me to follow him. He’ll let us know when he feels like it. I have learned to follow and let him reveal things in his own time.

  The trio stomped through the thick underbrush for over an hour. Well, Sam stomped. Rindu lightly danced over and through the foliage without disturbing it and Skitter…skittered.

  Just as Sam could stand it no longer and was going to ask Rindu what they were doing, the monk stopped. Focused on Rindu’s back as he was, he almost ran into the man.

  He looked at Rindu and then followed the line of the Zouy’s sight up to the strangest tree he had ever seen. While all the other trees and bushes surrounding them were clogged together in a jumbled mass, this one tree stood out, taller, wider, and probably most extraordinarily, free of any other vegetation. Sam had heard that some trees sterilized the ground around them, making it difficult for other things to crowd the tree. He thought maybe that was the case with this tree.

  Looking at it from roots to boughs, he let out a soft whistle. The bark was very thin and odd-colored, approximately the color of copper as it just started to rust. Its red, tinged with green, shone as if it was metallic. The trunk, very wide and gnarled, was how Sam always pictured ancient trees in the deep forest, though truth be told he really didn’t have any experience with that because he lived in the desert.

  The gnarled trunk twisted and turned and then split into many off-shoots, all bigger around than Sam was. As they reached up toward the clouds, lateral branches grew out of them at mysteriously regular intervals. All of the lateral branches and the smaller offshoots from those were arrow-straight, and the plump, oval-shaped leaves of the tree were thick on the small branches and twigs, causing a magnificent canopy that blocked out the sun and gave the impression the he was in a cave. It was simply the most beautiful tree he’d ever seen.

  As he stepped close, he felt it resonate. Looking at Rindu, and getting no reaction at all, he stepped right up to the trunk. He closed his eyes and felt a movement, some small vibration. It was coming from the trunk itself. He looked back at the monk once again and was met with a single raised eyebrow, nothing more.

  Sam took a deep breath, put his hand on the trunk, and then jerked it away quickly. “It moved,” he said, his breathing coming out in gasps.

  “It is safe. Put your hand on it. Focus on feeling the life within it.”

  Sam took another deep breath. He could feel a trickle of sweat dripping down the back of his neck, tickling him as it descended. He felt the droplet travel down between his shoulder blades to his lower back before being absorbed by his shirt. Closing his eyes again, he put his hand gently on the tree.

  Again, he felt the motion of the tree, and he almost took his hand away again. As he stood there breathing deeply and trying to focus on what he was feeling, he realized that the tree was not moving. It was vibrating.

  He tried to make sense of the vibration, but couldn't. It fluctuated, changed. There was no pattern he could decipher. It seemed to him to be like a song. A very complex song. He imagined that if he was an infant and heard a grand symphony, this is what it would be like, knowing it was something magnificent but not comprehending it. He often felt like that since coming to Gythe.

  With a start, he realized that Rindu had come and taken his hand from the tree. Sam was surprised to find tears in his eyes and dripping down his cheeks.

  “That is enough,” the Zouy said with compassion. “The energy of the tree is too complex for you right now. With the length of time you touched it, there will be…effects. Later.”

  Sam shook his head to clear it and wiped away his tears. “That is the most amazing tree I have ever seen. Thank you for showing it to me.”

  “I did not b
ring you here just to show you the tree. Nor did I bring you here to experience its energy.” He looked sadly toward the tree. “No, I have brought you here because we need the tree’s help, and it needs ours.

  “This tree is a porzul tree. The name means ‘iron’ in Old Kasmali, and for good reason. They are very rare, but live a long time. You see, the porzul tree cannot be cut down. Well, perhaps that is not accurate. It cannot be cut down without great effort. The wood is almost metallic, dulling the sharpest axes and saws, even those made of steel.

  “Some of the trees have been known to have been cut down, at the command of one ruler or another, but cutting it down is only part of the process. Working the wood is even more difficult because as the tree dies and the wood ages, it becomes even harder. Despite its hardness, though, the weight is similar to a regular hard wood, a contradiction that drew the ancient Zouyim to commune with the trees.”

  “Wait,” Sam interjected. “Commune? Do you mean that you can talk to the tree?”

  The eyebrow rose again. “It is said: ‘the fool spends his life trying to snatch words from the air.’ No, I cannot talk to the tree, but I can resonate with its vibration. Please sit here next to the trunk.”

  Sam sat down next to the trunk, legs crossed. He looked over at Skitter, who was eyeing him and the tree curiously. Neither spoke, mentally or verbally.

  Rindu sat in front of Sam, knees almost touching. The posture was familiar. This was how Rindu led him in much of his mental training. This time, however, Rindu had Sam put his right hand, the hand furthest from the tree, up with the palm facing Rindu. Rindu placed his left hand, palm to palm, on Sam’s hand. Then, he directed Sam to put his left hand on the trunk of the tree as he put his right hand on the trunk. Sam did so.

  He felt the tree’s vibration again, but it was muted. He thought that Rindu must have been buffering it somehow. He heard the monk whisper: “Breathe, and open your mind. Attain khulim. Link with me as we have practiced and let me lead you.”

  Again, Sam did what was asked. With his eyes closed, a picture appeared in the blackness of his mind. It was a picture of himself and Rindu in position next to the tree. As he watched, it was as if he was moving in closer to the two figures and then to the bark of the tree, and then into the tree itself.

  Inside, the tree contained glowing pathways that swirled and vibrated and traveled in a grand cycle from the roots to the tips of the leaves and then back down to the roots again. It was in constant motion and it almost made Sam dizzy to watch it. Then, his viewpoint shifted again.

  Now he was traveling up through one of the main trunk offshoots, to a lateral branch, and then to one of the smaller branches. As he got close to it, he noticed something odd about the branch just in front of him. Its energy was not moving as dynamically as the others around it. It appeared to have a blockage, just at the hip, where it attached to the larger branch.

  Feeling Rindu stirring, he saw another whorl of energy travel up the tree to the precise spot of the blockage. It sheared through the blockage, dissolving it and allowing the energy to flood back into the branch, restoring it. The vision was not done, though.

  As he watched, the energy that he understood to have come from Rindu circled the joint to the larger branch, swirling faster and faster, seeming to carve a notch in the wood itself. As Sam watched in horror, the energy cut through the perfectly straight branch until it severed the branch from the tree.

  With a jolt, Sam’s eyes opened just in time to see Rindu snatch the falling branch out of the air before it had a chance to hit their heads. Because it had been dying, there were no smaller branches growing off it. It was perfect and smooth and exactly the right size for a staff.

  As Rindu stood up, he reverently handed the staff to Sam.

  “What?” Sam asked. “What are you handing this to me for?” Nevertheless, he put his hand on the wood.

  The staff was cool to the touch, just barely below the temperature of the surrounding air, and vibrated slightly. It was less than an inch in diameter, just about six feet in length, and it was perfect in every way. Even where it had been severed from the tree it was smooth and without defect. Its red/green color glinted dully in the subdued light. The weight, as Rindu had said, was the same as a normal wooden staff would be, but Sam knew it was much stronger. He could feel it.

  “To do the things you must do, you must have the tools to do them. This will serve as your weapon, and more. We will begin your training with it immediately.”

  “But Rindu, these trees are very rare. It’s not right to forcibly take a piece from it. It's not honorable.”

  Rindu chuckled softly. “Honorable? Does the weasel now tell the pantor how to hunt?”

  Sam’s face reddened. “I mean. Well, I just feel bad hurting such a magnificent tree.”

  Rindu clapped his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “I understand your concern, but have no worry. The branch was dying. Its part in the tree’s energy cycle was blocked. It would have died completely and would have affected other branches as well. I restored its energy and then removed it so it could not cause more harm. We actually did the tree a service. Did you not see and feel the tree’s energy?”

  “I did. I’m sorry, I overreacted, but this is too great a gift for me. You should use it.” Sam handed the staff to Rindu.

  Rindu looked at the staff but made no move to take it. “No, it is attuned to you. I led the way, but I used your energy for the work. It will work for no one but you.”

  “Work? What do you mean ‘work’?”

  “Ah, let me show you. I think that you will like this staff, Sam.”

  Standing next to Sam, Rindu directed him to hold the staff in both hands, as if in a ready position, and to close his eyes and control his breathing. Then, Sam felt the tug of Rindu’s rohw pulling Sam’s focus toward the staff.

  Again, a picture came unbidden to Sam’s mind. This time it was the staff itself. Sam heard Rindu whisper: “Separate yourself, separate your weapon.”

  Not knowing what he was talking about, Sam concentrated on making himself separate from the weapon. Nothing happened.

  “Break the staff into two pieces, Sam. Focus on the middle and separate it as we separated the staff from the tree.” Rindu whispered again.

  This time, understanding, Sam struggled to do as Rindu said. For several minutes, Sam stared at the staff in his mind, trying to separate it. As he was just about to give up, he felt the vibrations of the staff jerk and suddenly it was in two perfect pieces in his mind. He felt the physical staff in his hands come apart as well.

  When he opened his eyes, he saw there in his hands two pieces of the staff, each perfectly formed and identical. Mouth open, he looked to Rindu, who was wearing his crooked half-smile. “Congratulations, Sam, you have learned to separate your staff. True, you did it with my help, but it will become easier with practice. Now, do you think you can reattach it?

  With a few minutes more effort and Rindu’s help, the staff was once again whole and perfect. “Does it get weaker when it is detached and reattached like that?” Sam asked.

  “No. You are actually vibrating the wood itself and melting it together, so to speak, so that it is as if it had never been separated. The wood itself is as strong as any sword that will come against it, but if it should get notched or scratched, you can smooth it by manipulating its internal vibrations, making it perfect again.”

  “Rindu, this is too great a gift for me,” he said again. “I don’t deserve it.”

  “True, you do not.” the Zouy said with a smirk. “But you must try hard to be worthy of it. There is one more thing…”

  Sam looked up from inspecting the surface of the staff. “One more thing?”

  “Yes. The tree did you great honor by allowing you a piece of itself. While it cannot think, it is a vital part of the universe and so you must demonstrate the proper respect for the gift given. You must give the piece you have been gifted with a name of honor and cherish and respect it always. It must be used
to balance the forces, to remove the blockages, of vibrational energy, never for selfish or hateful purposes.”

  “Of course, I understand. I will use it honorably. I have been studying Old Kasmali with Dr. Walt and I think I have the perfect name. I will call it Ahimiro.”

  “Ah,” Rindu said. “Fire pole. Why that name?”

  “It just seems right. Though it feels cool to the touch, I sense energy in it, energy strong enough to burn away those who would try to kill us. I can name it something else if you want.”

  “It is your weapon, yours to name as you please.” Rindu answered. “Besides, perhaps it is more apt a name that you know right now. We will see.”

  The three walked back to the camp, Sam using his new staff as a walking stick. When they arrived, Nalia took one look at the staff and looked to her father. “Porzul?” She asked.

  “Yes. There was a tree in need of some pruning. A dying branch.”

  Nalia nodded gravely. “A great weapon. Do you want to learn to use it?” she asked Sam.

  “Absolutely!”

  “Then let us go to the clearing over there” she said pointing off toward the setting sun and choosing a sturdy staff that was leaning against a nearby tree, “and we will see how many bruises you can earn before it gets dark.”

  Sam smiled as he followed her to the clearing. He would be sore and banged up by the time he was done, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

  Chapter 22

  The four humans and Skitter were gathered to discuss the plans to get to the Gray Fortress.

  “Sam, you're familiar with the geography of Telani. Rindu, Nalia, you know where the Gray Fortress lies and the terrain between here and there. I have here a rather crude map of the 1200 or so miles we have to travel to get there.”