A Slave to Magic (18 page)

O
ver the next
four days, Nera and Aqualia were inseparable. Aqualia had never been taught to
play the lute, so she allowed Nera to give her a few lessons while she helped
Nera refine her singing voice.

Curious about her new friend, Aqualia asked, “Why
is it you don’t study magic like your friend Kwil?”

“My father wanted me to be a master wizard, but it
isn’t the life I’d choose,” she explained. “I spent a full year at the College
before I escaped. I’m better off here where I can hear the music of the forest
and practice any time I wish.”

“I understand,” the Siren replied. “A year, did
you say?”

“Yes,” Nera replied, wondering why it would
interest her.

“Then you should have a magical store, correct?”

“I suppose I do,” Nera replied. “It’s probably
very small, though.”

“That’s all you’ll need,” Aqualia replied,
smiling. “Use it in your singing.”

“What do you mean?” Nera asked.

“Just a touch of magic when you begin a song,” she
replied. “It will strengthen the music.”

The thought had never occurred to Nera. She
detested every moment at the College, and she never expected to use any of the
magic she learned there. But Aqualia made a valid point. If she used it to
augment her music, she could enhance her performance. Not by tricking her
audience, but by enchanting the strings of her lute or, as the Siren suggested,
add a touch of magic to her voice. “I think that’s a fantastic idea,” she
replied, beaming. Kwil would be delighted to see her using magic. She decided
not to tell him, and instead let him be surprised when next he heard her play.

“Since you are capable of magic, there is one
spell I’d like to teach you,” Aqualia said. “Don’t worry, it isn’t the kind of
magic they would teach at the College. It’s a bit of water magic, and my people
use it often.”

“Are you sure it’s something I can learn?” she
asked. After all, she was a Gatan, not a Siren.

“I’m certain you can,” Aqualia replied. “Come with
me.”

Together they exited the cabin and took seats upon
a fallen log. Despite the winter chill, there seemed to be hundreds of birds
singing in the trees. Aqualia’s presence had brought new magic to the Dark
Forest.

“I want you to close your eyes and concentrate on
the birdsong,” the Siren said. “Block out every other thought and listen.”

Nera did as she was bid. Several songs overlapped,
high pitches, trills, descending notes, and every variation in between drew
pictures in her mind. Multicolored feathers lingered in her vision as the music
cut through all distractions. Even the wind whispered a low and melancholy
tune.

At her side, Aqualia hummed softly to the forest.
Then her song changed to a crystalline note, dangling on the winter wind. She
held the note eight counts before allowing it to fall, switching to a flawless
alto melody. The birds took notice and stood in revered silence until the Siren
finished her song.

Nera opened her eyes to look upon her friend.
“That was beautiful,” she said, a tear in her eye.

“That, my friend, you must remember,” Aqualia
said. “I wish you to learn this melody, and use it with your magic. It will
give you some power over nature, at least for a short time.”

Nera was anxious to learn, never having heard
magic crafted through music. This was something she could truly come to love.
If there were more spells such as this, she might decide to continue her magical
studies at some point.

After two hours practicing the Cry, Nera was able
to produce the proper tones only a few times. Now she regretted not trying
harder at the College. With greater stores, she would be able to perform the
melody perfectly more often.

“It takes time to learn, and you will master it
eventually,” Aqualia said with an encouraging smile.

“Thank you for teaching me,” Nera replied. Sadness
crept into her heart as she knew her new friend would be leaving soon to return
home. But Kwil would be interested in learning about the Cry, and the two could
study at least that small amount of magic together. Maybe someday her path and
Aqualia’s would meet again.

* * * * *

Seela trotted down the stairs to meet Kwil for the
day’s lesson. He was already standing at attention, anticipating her arrival.

“Good morning,” she said. “Today, we’re going to
perfect your skills at moving objects with magic.”

“I already know how to do that,” Kwil replied, a
puzzled expression on his face. “You’ve seen me do it many times.”

Frowning, Seela shook her head. “You can make
things rise and fall and float around, but you might need to learn fine
movements.” Grabbing a piece of string from her desk drawer, she laid it in
front of her student. “I want you to tie this in a knot using magic. And
remember not to use words or finger movements.”

Keeping his eyes open, Kwil focused on the string,
visualizing it tying itself into a tight knot. The string began to twitch
before lifting itself off the desk. As he concentrated on the magic, the string
worked itself into a knot. Gently, he placed it back on the desk.

“I’ve done it,” he said.

“Good work,” Seela replied. “Now do that a hundred
times.”

Stumbling on his words, he managed to say, “But I
did it on the first try.” Why should he waste time doing it repeatedly if he
had already mastered it?

“Yes, you did, and congratulations,” she replied.
“Now perfect it, and in the process, increase your stores a smidge.” Slightly
disappointed that her apprentice did not see the purpose of the lesson on his
own, she sighed. Selecting a book from the shelf, she sat down to work on her
own studies.

Kwil felt silly for questioning his mistress.
There was a reason for every lesson, and he had missed it. She wanted him to
learn delicate movements, allowing him to manipulate objects with fine detail.
This could be useful in a multitude of situations, plus the boost to his
magical stores from constant practice would be invaluable.

Setting his mind to the task, Kwil tied knots again
and again until there was no string left to tie. “I’ve run out of string,” he
announced.

“You know how to fix that,” Seela responded, not
looking away from her reading.

Kwil felt redness creep into his face. Why did he
speak without thinking? Of course he knew the spell to increase the length of
the string.
Good job making yourself look stupid
, he thought. Hopefully
soon he would fall into the role of a proper apprentice. Never question your
master’s orders, unless, of course, you’re supposed to question them. The trick
was knowing when to ask, and what question was the correct one. Learning magic
was difficult, but getting to know the nuances of one’s master was even harder.

For the next hour, Kwil tied knots in the string,
adding length as needed to complete the task. When he finally finished, he
said, “One hundred knots, Mistress. As you requested.” He held the string out
for her to observe.

“Well done,” she replied. Next to the wall leaned
a broom that was rarely used. Seela did most of her cleaning through magic, so it
served a better purpose as a teaching aid. Retrieving it, she handed it to
Kwil. “Choose one strand and remove it from the others. Pick a deep one.”

Kwil stared at the tightly woven section of straw
at the top of the broom, wondering how much force would be required to pull out
a single strand. Focusing his mind to the middle of the straw, he tugged at a
single strand, attempting to pull it away from the others. It held fast, so he
closed his eyes and pictured it freeing itself from the confines of the other
strands. A small but audible snap sounded in his ears, startling him slightly,
but he did not lose his concentration.

Seela watched with pride as the middle strand
released itself and floated toward her student. “Excellent,” she said. “You’ve
proved that you can focus on a single object among many.”

Immediately seeing the value in this lesson, Kwil asked,
“Can I try again?” The most difficult aspect had been homing in on the
particular strand he sought. Then it was just a matter of figuring out how much
magic to use to move that one strand without harming the others. It was
meticulous work, but he loved it.

“You may try again if you like, or we can move on
to something else,” she replied.

“Actually,” he began, “could this same spell be
used to separate mixtures? I’d love to learn more about potion making.”

Seela’s golden eyes lit up. “This spell would most
definitely help in potion crafting, and I’d love to teach you more about it.
You’re learning is coming along quite nicely in other subjects, so I suppose it’s
about time to learn something different.” Gracefully she hopped to the higher
levels of the bookshelf, her paw tapping the spines of several tomes before she
found the one she sought. Using magic, she sent the book Kwil’s direction and
laid it on the desk in front of him.

Before he could open the book, three more landed
on top of it, followed soon after by a fourth. Seela dropped down to his side,
another book floating softly after her.

“I suppose I should be giving you reading time
every evening,” she said. It had been decades since Rili left, and she’d had no
student since. Her skills at planning lessons had fallen by the wayside. “There
are far more spells than I can teach, and books are where you will learn the
most about fire magic.” She placed the fifth tome in front of him.

Staring at the deep red volume in front of him, he
read the title:
Elemental Magic: Fire Volume One.
His eyes glistened as
he beheld the prize in his hands. This was the start of his journey to master
fire. The only disappointment was that it was the first volume.
I suppose I
have to start at the beginning,
he decided, silently vowing to move to
volume two within a week’s time.

“Since I haven’t mastered fire, you’ll need to
learn most of these spells on your own,” she said. “Maybe when I’m ready you
can teach me a thing or two.”

Smiling at the prospect, he asked “Do I need to
memorize the incantations if I won’t be saying them?”

“A good question,” she replied. “If you can
visualize the spell, then no. But you should be familiar with the language.
Otherwise you will have great difficulty in learning the things I cannot teach.”

All of the books were written in ancient runes, so
knowing the words would most certainly work in his favor. Even if he didn’t
speak them aloud, recognizing them would make learning easier. He couldn’t help
but wonder how many other wizards performed magic as Seela did, without
incantations or gestures. “Are you part elf?” he asked, curious about her
origins. There must be a reason she could perform magic in a non-Gatan fashion.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I am a Feles.
We have innate magical abilities as the elves do, but we do not inherit from
their line. We have our ancestry in the Ancients.”

“I’d like to know more about that,” Kwil replied
with interest.

“There are books about that too,” she replied,
pointing to a section on her shelf.

Kwil looked up at the tomes with wonder in his
eyes. There were so many books here that he could keep himself busy for years.
His only regret was that he couldn’t read them all in a day.

Sensing his thoughts, Seela said, “If only I could
inject the information into your mind.” A gentle laugh escaped her lips. “It’s
hard to be patient when you’re young, but trust me, the learning will come. You
are far ahead of any other student your age. Keep reading and never stop. Until
the day you leave this world, you will continue to read and learn.”

Kwil began reading and didn’t stop until late into
the night. His eyelids grew far too heavy, and although he tried desperately to
continue, his body would not allow it. His head nestled upon the aging pages,
he fell fast asleep.

Early the next morning, Nera woke him with a
gentle tap on his shoulder. “Aqualia is leaving,” she said. “Come and say
goodbye.”

Regretting he hadn’t spent more time with the
Siren, Kwil followed Nera to the door. Aqualia smiled sweetly at him, noticing
a smudge of ink upon his cheek, no doubt the result of his resting place for
the night. He tried his best to avoid staring at her, but the pull she had on
him was magnetic.

“It’s been a pleasure,” Aqualia said, hugging
Seela goodbye.

“You’re welcome back any time, my friend,” Seela
replied, tears in her golden eyes. It had been many years since their last
visit, and only the wind knew for certain when they would meet again.

“Nera, you remember what I taught you,” the Siren
said. “Keep practicing, and most of all, believe in yourself.”

“I will,” Nera promised. She hugged the Siren
tightly, sorry to see her go. In the last few days she had learned more than
she ever imagined, not only about voice, but also about magic. She was eager to
show Kwil her new skill.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to know each other
better,” Aqualia said to Kwil. “Perhaps on my next visit we can talk more.”

“I’d like that,” he replied. “Maybe when I’m ready
to study water I could visit you and your people.”

“An excellent idea,” Aqualia said. “You should all
come for a visit someday.”

“You can count on it,” Seela replied. She had not
forgotten the warm welcome the Sirens had given her. They were far more
accepting of her than her own kind, and she desired to swim among them once
more. But not just yet. Now was the time to prepare Kwil for his future, and
she had much yet she desired to learn. Perhaps after she mastered water magic she
would visit Aqualia again, no matter how many years had passed.

“Farewell,” the Siren said as she turned to leave.
A few steps into the forest, she turned once to wave to her friends.