by Oxford, Rain
After pounding my poor brain with words, he insisted that I practice the water trick. It took a while to focus my mind and even longer to feel the energy. When I did feel it, though, it felt so obvious. I could feel it in me.
I didn’t imagine the water as fish pee, I just didn’t want the water to touch me because I knew I could control it; I already did once. Like Edward said, water was simple. I needed to do it in order to get good with magic so I could protect my book.
So I did it. My feet were dry when I pulled them out of the water. “Good. Now release the energy before you blow up something,” Edward said.
I closed my eyes and focused on the energy in me. “How?”
“Imagine it draining. However you imagine it is your choice,” he said.
So I imagined it rising out of me like the little stink lines on a cartoon character or like I was evaporating in the sun. I could feel the energy in me grow thinner until it was mostly gone.
“That’s enough. If you rid yourself of all energy, you won’t be ready if you’re attacked. You only have to get rid of enough so that you won’t make the house shake when you have a Guardian dream or do something stupid when you see Divina.”
“How do you know how much energy I have in me?”
“I can feel energy better than you, like a seventh sense. I can feel it all around me well enough to know how much is in one area or person and when it’s being gathered.”
“A seventh sense? What’s the sixth?” I asked.
“The books and their wellbeing. Do it again.”
I rolled my eyes and started again. It was quicker the third time. Afterwards, Edward told me to do it again and I did a fourth and fifth time, both faster than the time before. After I made my feet dry for the fifth time, I found it harder to drain myself of the energy. I had to work much harder for less of an effect.
I was tired.
I started again without being told, but Edward stood. “That’s enough of that. Rest quickly and I’ll show you something new. It’s not good to practice something to the point of crippling yourself. You can destroy your body by wearing it out with magic.”
“But I’m immortal. You’ve been at it forever and you look healthy.”
“My strength came with age and wisdom, for I learned to work myself without pushing too hard. Your own limit and how much you can push it is something you’ll have to learn on your own. I can teach you spells and how they work. Many spells have similar roots; you can apply what you know of one spell to another. I don’t really like to call magic ‘spells’.”
“But you just gather magic energy and it makes things happen? That sounds very easy.”
“Not quite. Nominal energy is controlled by your spirit. You can control the four base elements by controlling nominal energy directly. Other magic is used by controlling things through the energy. Electricity is an element made with nominal and physical energies together. There are some spells that need a physical root, like a ritual, and some that can be controlled with the mind. What do you want to learn?”
I couldn’t help myself. “I want to blow stuff up with my mind!”
“Something else.”
“I want to be able to turn invisible.”
“Something else.”
“I want to be able to choke someone by raising my hand ten feet away and saying, ‘I find your lack of faith disturbing’.”
“Something else.”
“I want to…” I stopped myself when I saw his thinly veiled frustration. He wasn’t going to teach me anything like that yet, but he was giving me a choice. “I want to lift stuff. Like… telepathy.”
“You mean telekinesis?”
“Yeah, that too. That sounds good to know and easy to learn.”
“I wouldn’t call it easy, but it is simple. All right. Rest while we walk home. How are you adjusting to the gravity and air?”
“I’m adapting to the gravity, my muscles are sore is all. The air is good; it feels very thick and very clean. I never really considered Earth’s air to be polluted, but I lived in a big city, so I was used to it.”
“It’s not as bad as some worlds I’ve heard of,” he said. I opened my mouth to ask what worlds there were, but he interrupted me, knowing what I would ask. “There is Duran and Earth, as you know, then there is Dios, Mulo, Vaigda, Malta, Enep, Dayo, Kahún, and Skrev. Vaigda makes Earth look positively stupid. It was easy to study Earth with Ronez, but other than to Earth, I haven’t traveled much in a very long time. I like Duran.”
“You’d be the minority,” I said, referring to the band. He gave me a sour look and I sighed as I started helping him pull down clothes and bagging them. My shirt was sagging sadly; the fabric was not meant for Duran. When we were done, Edward picked up the bag and we started off for the house.
Nothing in the forest was noticeably distinguishable, but Edward seemed to have no trouble navigating it. Even though I felt very tired, I managed to stay on my feet through most of the journey.
When we got to the house, Edward told me to wait for him, so I went to sit at the fireplace while he went inside. He came out a few minutes later and sat three very large rocks in front of me. I frowned. “So, Yoda, you keep rocks in your house?”
He rolled his eyes. “If you arrange these in a certain way across your home, it brings luck, keeps out threatening forces, and warns you when someone is being untrustworthy. Now, there are two ways to do this; move the wind, or move the rock. I will not teach you to use wind on it today because it takes too much control and wind really requires a larger target.”
“I don’t have to---”
“No, you don’t have to stand on your head,” he answered. My eyes were wide. “I’ve seen ‘Star Wars,’ and Ronez was crazy about it. He once referred to it as man’s greatest idea. One of his greatest wishes was to find his Padmé Amidala. He was too obsessive.”
“There’s no such thing as too obsessive over ‘Star Wars’. Don’t get me wrong; I’m far from a star-nerd, and I’ve never been a trekkie. I am a Whovian through and through.”
“Good for you. Now pay attention.” He held out one of the rocks and I took it. “It’s not heavy,” he said.
I looked at him. “Uh… yeah it is.”
He sighed. “No, it’s not. Your hand is telling your brain it is, and your hand is wrong. I’m trying to make this simple for you. Your mind controls everything in your body, including your spirit, which controls nominal energy, which controls everything. Got it?”
“Yeah. Mind controls body and spirit, to energy, to everything, so mind controls everything.”
“Yes.”
The mind is God.
“Your mind has to make your body think the rock has no weight.”
“How am I supposed to think the rock has no weight?”
“Be creative.”
I sighed and thought for a second, but then my arm hurt and I set the rock down. When I did so, I remembered how a suspiciously large number of teachers would make me hold out my arms during class until they became unbearably sore for punishment. I picked up two of the rocks, one in each hand, and held my arms out. My arms felt sore very quickly, just like they had in school. From there, it was easy to ignore the feel of the smooth stone in my hand.
“Okay.”
“I want you to imagine the rocks lifting out of your hands. They can do that because they weigh nothing. Your mind can make them rise if you want them to and if you can see it. Take in energy. The rocks are physical energy, so you can move it with the nominal energy you’ve gathered.”
I felt the energy around me and gathered it before imagining the rocks floating slowly. Five minutes passed, then ten, and then fifteen, and I could still feel the cold, smooth stone as well as my scorching muscles. It was frustrating and my arms were getting unbearably tired.
“Open your eyes,” Edward said.
I opened my eyes slowly, careful to keep focus on the stones. When I opened my eyes, much of the pain in my arms vanished along with th
e feeling of stone and I looked up. Both rocks were several feet above my hands; I had felt them even when they weren’t there. And then they both plummeted to the ground. I couldn’t tell if Edward was disappointed that I let them fall.
“Why did it take longer than it did to control the water?”
“It was harder?”
“Why?”
I thought really hard about it, but Edward didn’t move a muscle as the minutes passed.
“The water took less energy. It was simpler. It was like… The water did what I wanted it to, but the rock had to… I had to make it do what I wanted it to. I could feel it obey more when I got frustrated.”
“Because you focused on it and wanted it more. You learn much more quickly than the majority of the students I’ve had. You’re right; the water does what you want it too. The four elements, compared to other magic, seem as if they want to obey.”
“So does that mean you have to force other magic?”
“It’s subjective. For most wizards, the four elements will always be their strength. For some, potions are their strong point, or manipulating the mind. Some people develop their powers around a chosen career. For example, I knew a woman who, realizing her natural talent for illusion-type magic, honed her skills until she became the most successful assassin Duran has ever known.”
“What happened to her?” I asked.
“She was paid to assassinate me.”
“Did you have her arrested?”
“No, I married her.” I gaped at him as he continued. “After I decided she couldn’t change her ways, I told her to leave or I would drag her to Canjii myself. She refused and spent the next six years assassinating other inmates.”
“Why the hell did you marry her?”
“It was actually Ronez’s fault. He was angry at me over something and when he found out about her, he pretended to be me and married her under my name. I couldn’t very well tell her she was actually married to my twin brother who lived on another world.”
Ronez sounded like a born troublemaker.
Edward gathered the three rocks into a pile. “Now that you’ve learned to levitate an object, you can levitate anything. But do you know what’s ironic about the rocks you levitated?” he asked.
I did; I’d already thought of it. “Rocks are part of earth, so it should have been as easy as the water.”
His smile was unmistakable; he was pleased with how I was keeping up. “Very good.” He stood. “You’re right, and you’re also wrong. If these were regular rocks, it would have been; however, these are synthetic.”
I examined them and tried to be annoyed. Instead, I found myself laughing.
When I stood to go back inside, I noticed Divina standing about twenty feet behind us. She was just as incredibly beautiful as before, but she wasn’t smiling, nor was she even looking at me.
“Bad news, Kiro. Mallet’s ship is down and the next one to Anoshii isn’t for another three weeks. We’ll have to take a ship to west Mijii.”
Edward sighed and I was sure I was going to learn a new cuss word. I also knew Divina was only speaking in English for my benefit. “That means we have to go through the Aradlin,” he said, his voice low with frustration.
“What’s the Aradlin?” I asked cautiously.
“A very dangerous place.” He looked at me. “It appears you are going to get your request granted.”
It was difficult to focus on what he was saying as Divina approached. “Which one?”
“Were you serious about wanting to blow stuff up with your mind?” he asked.
“There’s no time. The ship leaves for Mijii in roughly three hours.” Divina glanced at me before continuing. “After Mijii, it will head to Moshi, Zendii before returning here. If you refuse to go through the Aradlin after last time, we can probably just go to Zendii and find transportation to Magwai.”
“Moshi to Magwai?” Edward’s face was almost pained. “Then we would have to take a ship through the Togi and into the swamps of Buron. We will probably get stuck, searched, robbed, and if we are very, very lucky, not eaten. We might as well wait for Mallet to fix his ship.” Divina stopped a few feet in front of him and bit her lip in doubt. I knew they were speaking English for me, and I appreciated it, but all the place names blew right over my head.
“The ship was hit by a pack of dasekikuma; it’ll be a while before he can get it fixed up, especially while on Shomodii. Now, it is the dry seasons, Buron may be dry.”
“Yes, but that just makes it harder to get through the Togi. We’ll have to go through the Aradlin. Is going to Anoshii worth it?” Edward asked.
“I can’t decide for you two, but I need to go. I’ve needed to go for weeks now, but I haven’t gotten the chance. I can’t put it off any longer,” Divina said.
Since I had thought of Anoshii as only a shopping mall up until then, I wondered what could be so important.
“You’re not going through the Aradlin alone. Whatever we do, we must go now; the kid does no good in forests.” He left for the house and I turned to Divina, feeling like I should be insulted. Instead, I was just confused.
She smiled at me. “Just make a list of words and put them in a bag. Every night, have Edward draw one out and explain what it is or means,” she said.
Edward returned a few minutes later carrying a bag similar to the one he kept his clothes in. “Got what you need?” he asked Divina.
She pointed over her shoulder and I realized that she had a strange version of a backpack. It had straps similar to a backpack but was shaped more like a tote bag, made of the same, not-quite-cloth material as the clothes-bag.
That also brought my attention off her face and onto her body… her clothing. Her peach-colored halter top barely covered her front and only three straps tied them on; two around the back and one around the neck. Her perfect skin was completely exposed on her back, except where it was hidden by her backpack. She wore tight, black, shiny pants. Her black leather boots reached up to her knees.
“Are you sure you’re ready?” Edward asked me.
“I’m sure I don’t want to wait three weeks to see Anoshii.” They both turned away, but I could see Divina smirk at Edward.
Divina started for the woods in the direction she had come from, but Edward handed me the bag, picked up the three rocks, and headed back into the house. I looked from one to the other, unsure what to do.
Divina stopped and gave me a reassuring smile. “He’s just letting Tibbit out. Come on; he’ll catch up.”
That was all the encouragement I needed to go running after her. When we got to the woods, we had to slow down, but I was determined not to fall in front of her. It worked for about ten minutes. Divina pulled me up by the back of the shirt as easily as Edward had, but I couldn’t manage to be as upset that she was choking me.
“Are you sure Edward knows where we’ll be?” I asked after twenty minutes of walking through the endless forest.
“He knows. It’s just outside his territory.”
“Where is your territory? Where do you live?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t call off a bunch of new words I didn’t know.
“I live on the outskirts of Ronus, about an hour and a half north of Kiro’s territory. Keep in mind, I mean a don, so it is longer than the Earth hour. Just so you know, Kiro lives on east Shomodii. Anoshii is southeast of Shomodii. We’re going to head northwest to Mijii.”
“Oh. So how long will it take to get to Anoshii?”
“That depends. Kiro probably won’t let us even take a rest in the Aradlin.”
“What happened there? What happened last time that has him so edgy?”
“Well, the Aradlin is a forest full of dangerous creatures and the land itself is very treacherous. The last time we were there, it was with two travelers, one of which was eaten, and the other died from being chased into a pit lined with spikes. Kiro’s arm was broken and he was almost eaten. It bothers him most that he doesn’t know how he got out. That, and he lost track of me and
feared that he wouldn’t be able to save me.”
“How come you got out, when the super powerful Guardian barely did.”
Her expression was almost grave. “I have the tendency to get away alive, like Ronez did.”
I frowned. “Did you know Ronez? Were you close?” I asked. She nodded, but quickened her pace slightly. It occurred to me that I was upsetting her. I found that odd because Divina didn’t seem like the girl who would be upset over death; the way she mentioned the two dead travelers was so indifferent. On the other hand, she seemed rather close to Edward, so perhaps she was just as close to Ronez.
After a while, I got the hang of walking through the forest. It took about an hour before we got to the edge of the forest, and by then I was out of breath and bent over. Finally the grass disappeared and the ground evened out as we came upon a beach. The ocean looked identical to the ones on Earth except for the sand color, which was slightly darker and redder than normal sand.
There were fewer passengers than I had thought there would be; only about thirty people. Some were socializing on the beach, but most were already on the ship, which looked like a small version of the Titanic. “Um… Are there any icebergs?” I asked.
“Of course,” she answered. Nothing good could come out of me getting on that ship. “But they’re nowhere near where we’re going.”
“Does that really matter? The icebergs will come to him.” Edward’s loud voice didn’t even get a little jump out of me as he appeared beside Divina. He hadn’t literally appeared, but I hadn’t noticed him walking up to us. “I got us a room down low so people will not need to pass our door often.”
“How did you get a room? Didn’t you just get here?” I asked.
“Kid, I could have taken a nap, read a couple of books, had breakfast and still made it back here in time to get a room before you got here.”
I scoffed and it just made him smirk.
“Come on.” Divina wrapped her arm around mine and I had no choice but to follow her to the ship, not that I was about to refuse her. She led me up a wooden platform onto the ship, which looked much bigger from the deck than it did from the beach. It occurred to me that I could get seasick.