Fredrik walked down to the point andsaw another long, uninhabited stretch of beach with palm treesleaning over it as if trying to reach the sea. He started pokingthe piles of shells and marveled at all the different types. For along time all of his problems were nonexistent as he examined shellafter shell, until Niki's screams rang through the air.
Fredrik jumped to his feet and lookedaround the shell pile. Niki was standing waist deep in the waterand using magic to deflect a rain of arrows heading towards her.Across the white strand of beach near the tree line were four menwith bows sending arrows at Niki as fast as they could load. Nikiwas too busy deflecting arrows to cast any other spell at the men.Fredrik stood tall with his hands outstretched and felt the powerbegin to well up. The power filling him had an intoxicating effectand he had to focus his mind back on the men. He had already soakedin enough power to obliterate them several times over. Withoutfurther thought, he flicked his wrists and the sky crackled openand a huge streak of lightning arced down and struck in the middleof the four men.
Niki stopped screaming and came out ofthe water and Fredrik ran to her. Together they stared at themassive crater that marked the spot where the men had stood. Therewas nothing left of the men. Where they had stood was a glowingdepression with walls of heated glass. The palm trees on eitherside of the hole were scorched black and the fronds were burningbrightly and dropping to the ground. Several coconuts hissed andburst apart, throwing chunks of coconut meat flying.
“Get dressed,” Fredrikordered. “We need to get out of here now! The force I used was toomuch by far and it could probably be felt for miles around. I don’twant to be anywhere near here when someone decides toinvestigate.”
Niki got dressed while Fredrik swept upthe campsite and hastily packed it away. When Niki mounted, Fredrikhanded her the reins for two of the horses the men had ridden. Hetook the other two and they headed north by way of a trail throughthe woods.
After they had ridden for a while, Nikibroke the silence. “You killed them, Fredrik. You didn’t try tostun them or freeze them; you just killed them. I didn’t know youhad such power.”
“I didn’t know, either,”admitted Fredrik. “I’ve never used magic that powerful before. Ionly planned to stun them, but I couldn’t stop drawing power. I wasso angry that I just grabbed for the power and it . . . it feltgood. Sort of like warmth flowing into your body on a cold winternight. I had to work at it to stop drawing the power and startusing it. I was more surprised than you with whathappened.”
They were quiet for a while with onlythe sounds of lapping waves off to their right and the birdsflitting around overhead, chirping and cawing. “I didn’t mean tokill them,” Fredrik continued, “but I couldn’t let them hurt you.“Besides, there is no undoing it now. I do think that we need topractice our magic more, though, and we cannot do that in a city.Without practice we will not have the proper control we need tomeasure our responses to threats. I think we have probably gone farenough away from the crater to safely camp for thenight.”
Niki just nodded and started lookingfor a clearing. Fairly soon, she found a suitable one anddismounted. This time she helped Fredrik set up the campsite andtake care of the horses. They dined on some of the leftover turkeyand sat quietly across the campfire from each other. “What did youmean before when you talked about drawing the power?” she asked.“Drawing it from where?”
Fredrik got up, walked around the fireand sat next to her. “When I was younger and realized that I had aspecial gift, I used to use it for pranks. I didn’t know much aboutwhat I had or how to use it, so most of the time the prank ended upbeing on me. One day I heard some men talking about the magiciansof the Black Devils, so I followed them. They had a house on theedge of Trekum that they used for a meeting place and a spot forthem to practice. For months, I used to go to the house beforelight came and climb up on the roof. I would watch them all day andlisten to their meetings until well after dark. That is where Ilearned most about magic.”
“It’s probably where yougained your dislike for the Black Devils, too,” guessedNiki.
“Yes, that too,” admittedFredrik. “They all talked boldly about how great they were when noone was around, but as soon as somebody important showed up, theywere all down on their faces in fear, bowing and scraping. Theredidn’t seem to be any purpose in belonging to the Black Devilsexcept to learn and I was getting that anyway. The only thing theyseemed to do in an organized fashion was to send out teams topunish selected people or go in teams on the GreatHunt.”
“What is the Great Hunt?”interrupted Niki.
“That was the worst part,”sighed Fredrik. “The Great Hunt was an edict handed down by theDark One. The Black Devils are supposed to be looking for childrenwho were born in the year of the Collapse.”
“But that’s when we wereborn,” stated Niki. “What did they want with kids ourage?”
“Death, mostly,” answeredFredrik. “It seems there is some old, moldy prophecy that the DarkOne wants fulfilled and it requires the death of a couple of kidsborn in the year of the Collapse. Not just any kids, but twoparticular kids. The members of the Great Hunt were to determinethe parentage of the individuals found. If they had a certainparentage, they were to be captured alive. If not, they were to bemurdered, just in case they might miss the real ones that they weresearching for.”
“Now I know why you aredreadfully afraid of being discovered by the Black Devils,”interjected. “Why didn’t you tell me that before? At least yourdemand that I not use magic so frivolously would have madesense.”
“Would you have stopped usingit?” he asked.
“Probably not,” she conceded,“but at least your request would make sense. That still doesn’texplain about drawing power and why you never taught me to do it.You taught me everything else.”
“Exactly,” Fredrik laughed,“and look what trouble that has brought me.” Fredrik ignored herhurt scowl and continued. “One of the things that I learned up onthe roof, was that power exists in everything, not just ourselves.You can use the power within yourself to accomplish something, butit diminishes you like running makes you tired and requires thatyou rest. If you can draw your power from other things, you can useyour power longer and more forcefully. I didn’t feel right teachingyou about it, because I’ve never really learned to use it myself. Itried it once and it was frightening. I thought I was going toburst open like a ripe melon.”
“But if we are going to haveto defend ourselves against the Black Devils, we will need everyedge we can get,” Niki stated.
“It’s not that simple, Niki,”Fredrik declared. “Not every magician can draw on the power ofother things. It is almost like another gift in addition to themagical gift, but I’m not sure. I do know that most of the BlackDevils were unable to attain any power outside themselves, at leastthe bunch that I observed. What we really need to find is a tutorwho is not connected with the Black Devils.”
“Fat chance of finding one,”she said disappointingly. “Still, you could teach me or test me tosee if I have the potential.”
“No,” Fredrik said too loudly.Softer, he continued, “I don’t feel safe using it, Niki. I wouldnot forgive myself if I taught you and you blew up. After we getsettled in Cidal, we will put feelers out for tutors, but in such away that will not lead back to us.”
“You just don’t want me beingas powerful as you,” she berated, “ . . . or more powerful. Well,if you won’t teach me, I’ll just find someone who will.”