by Joshua Cook
A soft chime roused them both. The Council of Elders had finished their meeting. One elder, named Tern came forth to the clearing where they were. Surprisingly, with him came a much younger woman, clad in leather, looking decidedly pleased with herself. Tern frowned.
“Mindeth Oakheart. You have asked to leave us, the Shrouded and Join the Bridgefinders. To choose the ways of those who were once our family.” Tern continued.
Rivenwood stiffened at this choice of words. Once our family?
“We will grant you this.” Oakheart’s face broke out in a grin, as did the woman who stood with Tern, “but, know this, Oakheart. If you leave with Finioa here and join the Bridgefinders, you may never return to us. We, the leadership of the Shrouded, have placed the edit of separation. The Shrouded and the Bridgefinders are no longer family. We are no longer connected. The split started by Bandic all those years ago is now complete.”
The woman Tern had identified as Finioa rolled her eyes at this announcement.
“That was your choice, Tern. You all are just mad that one of your most powerful members is leaving you.”
Tern’s face scowled at the woman. “We have discussed that until we have nothing else left to say, Finioa.”
Rivenwood spoke up. “So you’re saying that from this moment on, what… No communication between us and the Bridgefinders?”
“Yes. The names of their members will be stricken from the rolls, and we shall have nothing to do with them henceforth. What was one is now two. This is the final decision of the Elders.” Tern tapped his staff against the ground as a wave of magic flew out. As it passed over Rivenwood, he felt a bell ring throughout his body. “Finioa take your new member and leave. You are not welcome here anymore.”
Chapter 13
Cendan felt fuzzy headed. All this mind to mind stuff seemed to make him a bit confused.
“So, Oakheart left, joined the Bridgefinders, made EVA and who knows what else, then got captured by the Slyph, turned into a tree thing like you all, and turned into basically a magic battery for the Slyph to use?” He hoped that was a semi accurate summary of everything he knew. Or at least he had been told. Cendan wasn’t totally sold that these people, these Shrouded, were telling him everything any more than he had been sure the Bridgefinders had been. People always had their own versions of truth. Without a response, Cendan continued.
“So, if there wasn’t supposed to be any contact anymore between the Shrouded and the Bridgefinders, how did Heather get there? Why am I here?” Cendan pushed on. “By everything you’ve shown me, there aren’t a lot of reasons for this conversation to even be happening. Right? I mean, that vision said it; what was one is now two. Period.”
“Yes. And it would have stayed that way but for one thing; Grellnot. Grellnot happened. Even Grellnot existing was a high concern for us, a turning point. Unlike every other creature the Slyph had created, Grellnot existed only as a weapon, only as a force of destruction,” Rivenwood answered him, the concern in his voice looming over every word.
“Grellnot is hunger, and that’s all he is. But because he was born of the magic of two worlds, our world and the Slyph’s Echo World, he always had the … potential to be an even larger threat. Every time he took the power of a Bridgefinder, he grew. Now, he can take in the power of both our world and the Slyph’s.” “With that power, he crossed the line from a large concern to a crisis. That was the reason the decision was made for one of us, one of the Shrouded, to make contact again with the Bridgefinders after all this time.”
“Heather was chosen simply because she was powerful enough to take care of herself; street-smart, and tough enough to deal with anything we thought she might find on her mission. You were the target for several reasons; your dealings with the Elves made you known to us. We knew that you were a recent arrival to the Bridgefinders, and would be the most likely to listen to our concerns. The others still living would not be.” Rivenwood finished his answer with what to Cendan experienced as a sigh.
“So, what now? Why bring me here? Why tell me all of this? What was the point?” Cendan queried Rivenwood. “Bringing me here wasn’t necessary to warn us about Grellnot.”
Rivenwood was silent for a long time before finally answering.
“No. It wasn’t. Truthfully, this was not part of the plan. Heather’s original plan was just for her to warn you all and then leave. But the chance to see the inside of the legendary Bridgefinders building, to see the fabled map in person, changed things for her.”
“Then you got kicked out by Marcus, and we didn’t know what to do. Did we leave you as a target for Grellnot? I do not know if his former inability to do anything to you still holds true; he has grown in power and ability a great deal since the last time he tried. Heather, in communication with the Elders of the Shrouded, decided to bring you here, for both your safety and at least, somewhat, our curiosity.”
Rivenwood continued, “But you are here now, and we are unsure what else we should do with you.”
Cendan pounced on the thought that had flickered around the edges of his mind since learning about this place and these people.
“Teach me. Just teach me. The Bridgefinders know nothing of magic anymore, and while I may find a book or journal about it, being taught to harness whatever it is I can do is a tool that I need, I must, have.”
“We have considered this. We are, however, somewhat split on the idea. Teaching a Bridgefinder the ways of the Shrouded is something we weren’t prepared to process; at least not yet. While I, being the most senior of the Elders am for the most part for this idea, some of the other Elders, who were born after the split between the two groups, are less than enthused about it. There is a faction who want to let Grellnot finish you all off, then find a way to defeat him. Ridding ourselves of both problems at once.” Rivenwood responded.
“Problem? The Bridgefinders are a problem? Oh, you mean the Bridges being turned and forced to come near EVA? The closing of the Bridges and banishing of the creatures that come through? Do you really hate us that much to let us die?” Cendan was somewhat surprised by this. His mental image of the Shrouded was one of nature-magic-hippy-types being peaceful and hiding away from the real world. The idea that they would let the Bridgefinders be destroyed and killed by Grellnot, simply to get their way, pointed to a far darker turn of mind.
“Hate is a strong term for it, Cendan Key. Call it more like ‘tough love’. There are those among us who feel that the Bridgefinders have brought this on themselves. That we shouldn’t step in and save a group of people who proclaimed themselves the true protectors of the world and walked away from the Shrouded. I do not share this viewpoint, but it does exist. But that’s immaterial for now. We have agreed as a whole to train you. To help you expand your powers and abilities in the short time we have left to do so.” Rivenwood’s voice softened. “We do not know how long it will take, but everything we can detect and find out says that Grellnot is plotting to strike at the Slyph. When he does so, the odds are high that he will win. We must be ready for that chance.”
Cendan knew Rivenwood was right. The idea of Grellnot flush with all the power of the Slyph on top of all the power he already had was one that no one liked the idea of. It was obvious the Shrouded had mixed feelings about him being here, just as many in fact as what he had about being here. But they knew magic. They knew it far better than anything he could get out of books in the Maker library. It was different magic than Bridgefinder magic though he wasn’t sure to what degree.
“Ok, let’s do it then.” Cendan answered quickly. “If only because the idea of a thing like Grellnot not being stopped is one that we can all agree is bad. Bad as they say with a capital ‘B’.”
Cendan broke contact with the tree Rivenwood, blinking in the light. Momentarily fuzzy headed, he struggled a bit to clear his mind. He wasn’t even sure how long it had been since he started that conversation with Rivenwood. It was rather like waking up from a nap in the afternoon and not knowing how long you�
��d been asleep.
Heather was still there, though she was sitting now, her back to another nearby tree. Her eyes locked onto him with intensity.
“So, I have to train you now? Joy.” She took her fetish off her wrist and spun the loop in a circle off her finger. “I’m to show you the basics, like tapping into the surrounding power. Using that power, your will, and your fetish to make things happen.”
“You? They can’t give me someone else?” Cendan blurted out. He still wasn’t sure how he felt about Heather. If last night hadn’t happened, he would have jumped at the chance to spend more time with her. But now? He didn’t trust her. Maybe. He hated things like this. Emotions always got in the way of good solid logic and facts. Factually, he knew she was probably the best choice. She knew him, and if what Rivenwood had said was correct, the Shrouded probably didn’t want a lot of interactions with him. It made sense for the one person who already had contact to continue it. He persisted nonetheless.
“I mean, what about a Creator? One of your Maker types,” Cendan continued, seeing the look of anger and – what was that? Sadness maybe? – that crossed Heather’s face at his first question. Her face set into a blank look, and Heather stood.
“Yes, after I show you the basics, you will get some time with a Creator.” Without another word, Heather motioned him to follow her away from Rivenwood.
“Heather, I am sorry, but after last night I just…” Cendan trailed off, once again unsure how to deal with someone else’s emotions.
“It’s fine, Cendan. I shouldn’t have done it in retrospect. I just didn’t see what the big deal was for you. But I guess you see those sort of things very differently than I.” Heather answered back, but didn’t look at him. He knew that her feelings were hurt though he wasn’t understanding why. She had been the one in the wrong, so why was she upset that he didn’t want much to do with her. Emotions; so damn inconvenient when a decision needed to be made.
Chapter 14
They walked on in silence as Cendan took in the surrounding forest. It seemed a nice quiet place, though every now and then he’d remind himself that each tree he passed held the soul and mind of a departed Elder of the Shrouded, and he’d get creeped out a bit. His mind would, as they walked, wonder if that tree hated him, or had that trees branches moved against the breeze a bit? As they approached a clearing, he could feel his tension rising, and it was somewhat a relief to walk out of the trees.
Heather turned to face him, still somewhat unexpressive.
“This will do to learn some basics. This is going to be a crash course, Cendan. The Elders don’t know how long we have until Grellnot makes its move on the Slyph. Because of that, I’m going to give you a rundown on the rules of magic, and how to shape it in a basic form. Normally this is taught to kids over several weeks. With you, I’m going to do it in an afternoon.” A slight smile cracked her face, but to Cendan’s mind, it wasn’t a particularly pleasant one.
“Open yourself to your sight, Cendan, see the magic flowing around us. Do not turn back and look at the wood; not yet at any rate. But see the flow here in the clearing.” Heather held up her fetish. “And get the thing you call a focus out of your pocket and into your hand.”
Cendan sighed and grabbed the Key, welcoming the feel of the metal in his hand as he opened his mind up to see the magic.
The points of light that reflected the magic of his world were strong here, and for once not as randomly placed as he’d seen before. A pattern existed, more of one than he expected.
“What do you see, Cendan?” Heather asked.
“I see magic, but... they are laid out, organized,” Cendan responded, his eyes locked on to the pattern. He knew patterns were important from what he had read in the Maker wing and trying to figure out systems was something he enjoyed long before any of this magic world stuff intruded into his life. Figuring this out took his mind off everything else, at least for a moment.
“Good. Yes, the magic here is structured a bit by the nature of its location, and what it’s used for. This is a teaching field, so we keep the magic here a bit simpler to deal with.”
Heather continued. “Look at my fetish, using your sight, what do you see?” Cendan looked up, but made sure he kept his eyes on her fetish, that twisted wooden hoop she held up high. The points of magic were circling it, flowing around it like tiny living ants, in a line, ordered.
“I can tell by your face you see the pattern. What I’m doing is charging my fetish. It’s a simple basic skill. There are places in the world where the magic is weak, or places where it can be hard to force the magic to do what you want. Having a store of magic tied to your fetish can be a good thing. It allows you to have a well to tap into so you don’t get caught unawares.” Heather motioned Cendan to try. “You try. You call to the magic, form a mental image for it to follow. It’s easy, though as you’ll see…”
Cendan reached out to the magic, feeling it with his mind. At first he reached out strong, forcefully. The points seemed caught at first, but slid away from his mind. Almost like magnets repelling away from each other, the points didn’t want to seem to go anywhere together.
“Not so easy is it?” Heather asked. “Magic doesn’t like to be forced to do anything. This is the first lesson. You must be careful, but firm. A light touch will get you farther than a strong one, at least at first. You should get it though. You use magic in your scrying though you don’t even know it. What you need to learn is how to do it consciously, and for more than one thing.”
Cendan nodded. Again he reached out, and with less force, gently reached out and almost plucked the points up, one, and then another, until he had a rather large collection of points. But how to get them moving into his focus? Slowly, he placed the points into a pattern. It was difficult, the points reacted sort of like magnets repelling each other, but they also seemed as fragile and light as a soap bubble. It wasn’t easy to get them to move in the way he wanted.
Sweat formed on his head as he could feel his face scrunch up a bit. How did Heather keep her face straight like that? This was hard. But slowly, the points fell in line. And to his surprise, once the pattern formed, it stayed and started flowing on its own.
“Very good, Cendan. Very. Normally that can take a week alone to get working for most students. And you’ve learned lesson two too: once a pattern starts, he naturally wants to keep moving that way. The hard part is getting it started.”
“The pattern determines what happens. The key is learning how to get magic into that pattern and quickly. You can’t stand around trying to concentrate and get everything setup if Grellnot is trying to eat you, literally,” Heather added.
Cendan could see that she was attempting to put a happy face on the situation though his feelings about it all were still highly mixed.
“So is there a trick to that?” Cendan asked, keeping his attention on the lessons. “I mean, you do it fairly quickly from what I’ve seen.”
Heather shrugged. “Not really. There are a few shortcuts, but the number one way is practice. Lots and lots of practice. Which takes time. Which you don’t really have.”
Cendan could feel the sigh rising up and squelched it. Practice always takes time.
“Shortcuts? Anything would be helpful.”
“Once you’ve got a pattern down, you can store it in your fetish. I assume it would work the same way for yours, but then again, to me your Key feels... wrong.”
Cendan started at that. This was the first time she had mentioned it since they met.
“What do you mean wrong?” His key felt right to him. In fact, since he’d been holding it, he realized his stress levels were down; way down.
“It’s just so… cold. Hard. I can see the magic flowing through it, but its mechanical. Can you see the difference?”
Cendan looked at her fetish, and then at his key. In truth, she was onto something, though neither felt wrong to him. The magic flowed and moved in an almost organic living way on her fetish. In contrast, his
followed the same pattern every time. His moved faster, but kept the same path. Odd, he thought. But more detail on the natural versus manmade split between the Bridgefinders and the Shrouded.
“I can, but yours doesn’t feel wrong to me. Maybe inefficient, but not wrong,” he answered without thinking. Inefficient? Think before you say things, Cendan, he berated himself.
Heather didn’t answer, but her face once again went blank.
“Storing a pattern in the object in your hand isn’t hard. And you still have to gather the magic, but it makes starting the working a bit faster.” Cendan nodded. He didn’t remark on his passing comment. Better to let it go.
“But how do I store it? I mean, I understand the reasons, and idea sounds understandable, but how?” Cendan asked.
Holding her fetish forward, Heather instructed him.
“You have the pattern for charging right? You need to take that pattern and force it into the fetish. Right now, it’s on the outside. You must push it inside. Just for a moment. The object will, for the lack of a better term, save the pattern.”
Cendan nodded. Sort of like how Oakheart had saved his memories and information onto the key, patterns of magic could be saved as-well. That made sense. Taking a breath, Cendan firmly but carefully pushed the pattern into the key. The points of light felt slippery still to him, and he found himself working hard to keep the pattern together. But slowly, it finally sunk into the key, just for a moment. He released his mental hold, and the pattern sprung back to the surface as if he’d never touched it.
“Good. Very good,” Heather said out loud watching him. “You truly are gifted, Cendan. Now to access a pattern you have saved. First, we need to cancel the current pattern. This is lesson three. All magic, unless it’s the permanent kind, needs to be unraveled when you’re done. There are several reasons for this. One, it’s very hard for another user of magic to unravel a pattern they didn’t create. Doable, but not easy. The more complicated the pattern, the harder it is for someone else to undo.”