“We will be very receptive to anything we can do to help you, son,” Glenda declared as she reached inside Lord Marak’s shirt and felt for the necklace. “We can see the way the people here idolize you and that tells us you are a good ruler. Let them rest for a day and provide them with food and clothes and they will be ready to perform miracles for you.”
“It is miracles that we are going to need,” admitted Lord Marak. “There is so much I want to say to you that I don’t know where to begin.”
“There is also much that I have to say to you,” Glenda replied as she dabbed her eyes. “I do, however, know where to begin. I love you, Son.”
Lord Marak’s eyes welled up as he hugged his mother. “I love you, too, Mother,” he managed to get out before silence claimed the room.
Chapter 18
Magic
“Of course, it’s a misconception,” declared Klora. “People have long associated Sun Magic with light and heat. Growers bring in Sun Mages when they have crops which have suffered from lack of both, but have you ever wondered how a Sun Mage works when the sun is not available to provide power?”
“I thought the power of the sun was always available,” admitted Lord Marak.
“Wrong,” instructed Klora. “The Sun Mage is really able to control the natural forces of light and heat without the presence of the sun being a factor at all. They can work their magic through the darkest night or in the deepest cave. This is important, Lord Marak, because as soon as you start to see a Sun Mage’s capabilities in the proper light you will begin to see the vast potential for the unleashing of raw power.”
Klora turned and focused on a dog-sized rock in the center of the field. “Watch the rock while I demonstrate,” she instructed.
Lord Marak and his mother, Glenda, stood with the rest of the newcomers from Lituk Valley and watched the demonstration. As Klora concentrated, the rock began to glow; first, red and then white. The rock began getting smaller as the top appeared to liquefy and run down the sides. Within moments the rock was nothing more than a puddle in the field.
“That was just the force of heat,” declared Klora, “and it is only a minor display of the power one mage can harness. This is what the same power can do with light . . . ”
The puddle of molten rock began to glow white as the brilliance steadily increased. Soon the center of the field was filled with an illumination so bright that it hurt their eyes. Lord Marak and the others closed their eyes tightly, but the brilliance persisted through their closed eyelids. Turning his back to the display, Lord Marak called a halt to the demonstration.
“That was like looking into the sun itself!” Lord Marak exclaimed. “How did you discover this?”
“It was partly your fault, Lord Marak,” Klora laughed. “You ordered me to bring water to the Chula shaman whenever I saw them in our fields. While they guard their magic jealously, some of their comments got me to thinking about where our powers come from and why there are different disciplines. I don’t think there are different powers, just different affinities.”
“Do you mean that a Soil Mage and a Sun Mage draw their power the same way and the only difference is how it feels to them?” asked Glenda.
“Exactly,” smiled Klora. “While I feel the heat and light of the energy, you feel its substance, its physical structure. Focus on that rock over there and concentrate.”
Klora indicated a smaller rock off to the left and the crowd moved about so everyone could see it.
“Now,” Klora continued, “focus on its center, the very center, but keep yourself aware of its surface. It should feel as if you are the very center of the rock and your hands are stretching out to caress the surface.”
“Yes, yes, I can feel it!” exclaimed Glenda.
“Good,” soothed Klora. “Now slowly, but firmly, pull the surface into the center.”
Lord Marak and the others watched in astonishment as the rock actually grew smaller. It did not get tiny, but it was visibly smaller.
“I can’t move it any further,” sighed Glenda.
“That’s okay,” Klora said soothingly. “Now, reverse the direction. Push the surface out as quick and as far as you can, to the very limits of your arms and beyond.”
The rock grew visibly larger and showered the field as it exploded into thousands of tiny rock shards.
“Excellent!” congratulated Klora. “That was a marvelous first attempt.”
Glenda beamed with the joy of accomplishment, but it quickly gave way to a frown. “How is it that you, a Sun Mage, could instruct me as to what I should feel?” inquired Glenda.
“During our daily studies over the last few months,” explained Klora, “we have discovered that many of us can feel the other disciplines. I can only feel Sun and Soil, but others here can feel all four. I think mages are categorized early by their dominant feeling and never think to seek for other feelings. Once we became aware of the crossover we held classes in each of the disciplines and tested each other for awareness. Almost every one of us has the ability in at least two disciplines. One is always primary, of course, but some of the women are quite powerful in their secondary discipline.”
“What about the other disciplines?” asked one of the Lituk Valley mages.
“An Air Mage can feel the energy flow and command its speed and direction,” smiled Klora. “Iscala, could you join us for a demonstration, please?”
A young woman left the group of practicing mages and walked over to Klora. After a brief discussion she turned to the group of newcomers and pointed to a nearby log.
“Please watch that log and see how the forces of an Air Mage can affect its speed and direction,” Iscala stated.
The group quickly repositioned so that everyone could watch the log. Iscala focused on the log and it rose slowly upward. The crowd of newcomers applauded, but Klora held up her hand for silence and everyone continued to watch the floating log. Iscala gave a slight nod of her head and the log screamed across the field and into the woods with such speed that people lost sight of it.
“Thank you, Iscala,” Klora smiled as she turned to the crowd of open-mouthed newcomers. “Iscala is leading the group of Air Mages with her magnificent manipulation and control of the forces of speed and direction. Iscala, please fetch Wogra for me.”
Iscala smiled at the group and hurried off. Almost immediately, another woman, slightly older, replaced her at Klora’s side.
“Wogra, here, is our best Water Mage,” waved Klora. “A Water Mage can channel the energy’s interaction with outside forces, essentially, by increasing or decreasing its pressure. Wogra has been experimenting on larger objects and she exhibits superb control. Some of you Water Mages will have your eyes opened with this demonstration. We’ve been led to believe that Water Mages can only interact with water, such as forcing rain out of clouds. This is far from the truth. Proceed, Wogra.”
Wogra pointed to a huge sevemor tree across the field as she spoke. “That large sevemor tree is not a likely object for a Water Mage to manipulate,” she began, “but we have discovered that all objects can be manipulated by a Water Mage. I am going to concentrate on the saps within the tree. I am going to increase the pressure on the saps, forcing them to expand rapidly, very rapidly.”
The crowd of newcomers watched intently as Wogra focused on the sevemor tree. Visibly, there was not much to see. The tall tree appeared to bulge slightly, but not enough to indicate that anything was happening. Suddenly, the entire sevemor tree vanished in a puff of smoke. The only indication that the tree had exploded was the mass of raining debris floating down all over the field. The pieces were so small that they could not be distinguished as being from a sevemor tree. The newcomers applauded briskly and Wogra gave a humorous bow before leaving the group.
“As you can see,” Klora said loudly, reclaiming the group's attention, “we have learned quite a bit about our magic and have developed new uses for it. We are far from knowing all that we wish to know and we welcome you newcomers to our group. We have found that the more mages involved in the practice groups, the more we learn. All of you will contribute something valuable to our learning.”