It turned out that magic did not come easily to any of us. Chase started us with some meditation, which was a welcome break after the very physically exerting morning. She spoke calmly to us about finding a center of power and accessing it, but if there was some deep well of power inside of me, I couldn’t sense it at all. Chase wasn’t upset. “In all the records that Raella has studied, no one was able to cast in their first lessons. Magic isn’t natural for any of you like it is for us – we’ve been able to feel it, see it, our entire lives. For you, it’s like being blind and reaching for an item that someone else is telling you is there. You have to take their word for it, and until you accidentally brush against it with your hand, you have no concept of what it actually feels like – not the texture, or the shape, or the heft. But it’s there. You just have to keep reaching.”
Lexie sighed dramatically and flopped back on the grass, her limbs splayed out. “Man, I really wanted to be great at this. Magic!”
“You will be,” Chase reassured her. “Some of the records say that it takes an awakening for some of the Graced – a moment of danger or extreme emotion that forces you to pull the magic from within you. Raella thinks it’s a little different than normal magic because of it’s divinity. But the basics of it are still there.”
“We’ll also try teaching a few words of Primordial and see if vocalization and gestures help you to cast,” Zolambi said. He was sitting near the bench where Greyjon was napping, watching our lesson intently.
Lexie groaned. “I don’t want to learn a whole ‘nother language.”
Zolambi chuckled. “You won’t have to know the specifics of it. You can say something as simple as “fire, burn” and it directs a flame for you.”
“Why did you choose to learn Primordial for your casting?” Peyton asked.
Zolambi’s features darkened momentarily before his face became unreadable again. “I did not have a choice,” he said simply, but didn’t elaborate. Peyton nodded, taking his tone to mean that he did not want us to press further, and re-settled into lotus pose, closing her eyes to focus on meditating again.
Lexie sat back up. “What do you mean by that?” she asked. I cleared my throat and poked her with my foot. She frowned at me and I frowned back at her and just barely shook my head no. She seemed confused, but didn’t say anything further.
Zolambi seemed lost in thought for a long moment before saying, “Some elves are kept as slaves in the human kingdoms. They are taught to cast using Primordial, and don’t know that vocalization isn’t necessary for magic. I suspect it makes it easier to control them, to keep track of when and what they are casting. As if they don’t have other methods of control.” The earlier concern about the fourth Grace being in human lands seemed to have a very reasonable answer, I realized. But if she was human like us, certainly she’d be fine?
Lexie’s jaw dropped open. Her facial features shifted between a whole array of emotions as she studied Zolambi. Then frowning, she looked away. We were all very quiet for several long moments – I realized I was staring absently at Zolambi’s scar and twisted my head to watch Peyton continue to meditate, seemingly untouched by the entire conversation. Then Lexie growled and tossed herself back on the grass again. “Man, that just pisses me off!” she said. “Maybe I’ll get to set a slaver on fire though.” The slightest twitch of a smile pulled at the edge of Zolambi’s mouth.
“Some people do find it easier to control magic by vocally commanding it. I’ve been teaching Primordial at the University here for some years now,” he said, his tone lightening.
“So how do I say this, ‘fire, burn’ phrase in Primordial?” Lexie asked, sitting up again. Zolambi pronounced the words for her, and she did her best to mimic him with some mild correction. She repeated the words quietly to herself, her eyes closed for several moments. Then she opened her eyes and stood – dramatically sweeping her hand in front of herself and shouting the phrase.
I don’t think any of us were expecting anything to actually happen, but a light enveloped her as she shouted, her voice took on the same strange resonant timber that Zolambi’s did when we had seen him cast, and a short bursting wall of flame sprung up under the path her hand had taken through the air. Chase and Zolambi jumped up, Chase squealing in delight, and Peyton’s eyes flashed open to watch.
“Holy shit, I did it!” Lexie screamed, jumping up and down excitedly. I realized that my mouth was agape and snapped my jaw shut with an audible click. Lexie paused, her eyes wide with wonder and excitement, her face flushed. “I think I can do more! Even without the words,” she said. And this time, without vocalizing, she swept her arm in front of herself again – the light sprung up around her once more and a wall of fire bloomed into existence, spiking out and away from her in a very dangerous, very hot wave.
“Oh, that’s amazing! But oh… oh! Let’s not set the gardens on fire!” Chase said, also bouncing up and down, as excitable as the younger girl. Lexie nodded, but didn’t seem to know what to do to make the fire go away, so Chase and Zolambi began extinguishing the flames instead.
After the magic lessons, we were given a more extensive tour of the campus. There were several buildings with classrooms and auditoriums, and two dormitory buildings, spread over a sprawling series of courtyards and gardens. We weren’t taken into the buildings themselves, but did see students and teachers walking outside between the buildings and through the gardens, and gathering for outdoor classes or activities. I noticed that we garnered quite a bit of attention, with people pointing at us and whispering to each other. The entire campus was contained within the confines of massive stone walls. The entrance was open, and there was a long building that turned out to be stables set just inside the opening. Immediately outside the entrance of the campus were a few small University owned farms that provided food for the students and teachers, and past that small expanse of land sprawled a city. There were guard towers set along the walls of the campus grounds, but the University did not employ guards or soldiers to man them.
It was from one of these towers that Greyjon showed us the lands beyond the University walls. I watched Lexie lean precariously over the stone ledge, and kept an eye on her balance, ready to reach out and grab the back of her shirt if she started to fall. Peyton stepped up and placed her hands on the ledge – I watched the breeze catch her hair and blow it out of her face, the sunlight catching coppery glints as it shifted. Then I realized I was staring and forced my attention beyond the walls.
“Will we be able to go into the city?” Lexie asked, glancing back at our guides.
Greyjon was leaning against the doorway again, his arms crossed. He stared out at the city, a slight frown on his face, and remained quiet. Zolambi stared passively at Chase. Both seemed to be waiting for her to answer the question. Chase flushed slightly, but then said, “It may not be safe. The ritual isn’t widely known about these days, the tales of the resealing are treated like ghost stories. Only the people here in the University know that it is time and that we have successfully performed the summoning rite. And since it’s not common knowledge, the people in the city might be confused about a human wandering freely in our lands.” I thought about the people that had pointed and stared at us as we toured the campus grounds earlier.
“That’s a bummer.” Lexie sighed and stepped back from the ledge, much to my relief.
“What’s the name of this city?” Peyton asked.
“Rygalium,” Chase said. “It was once the capital of the Empire, but since the Fracture, it rules itself. The grandson of the former Emperor is part of the council that rules the city. Since the University brings in students from across the land, the University Master is also a part of the council and has a lot of say in political affiliations across the city-states.”
“And you, Greyjon – you’re on loan from Kimber? What is that place like?” Peyton turned to lean against the ledge, her hands still on it to support her weight. She was giving her full attention to our guides now.
Greyjon nodded. “Kimber is a smaller city.”
“Most cities are smaller than Rygalium,” Chase noted.
“Yes. Kimber is more militaristic than most. Everyone is trained for battle from a very young age. We’re ruled by a daughter of the former Emperor and her sons. They’re advised by a council of Generals and Warlocks.”
“What distinguishes a Warlock from another mage?” I asked, a bit curious.
“The war part, mostly,” Greyjon said wryly. “They’re powerful mages, that have trained their entire lives to use magic in battle – commanding fire similar to the little wall you created earlier,” he nodded to Lexie, who grinned in acknowledgement, “or putting their minds to applying magic to destruction or force.”
“Most elves can control some degree of basic magic – to give themselves light, or start a fire in a hearth, or conjure water, or make it easier to move small items around,” Chase said, and with a flourish of her hand and an enveloping light, she conjured a small flame in the air. It flickered and danced as she moved her fingers, bound to her will. “But a larger fire requires strength. Directing it farther away from you and toward an enemy requires more refined control. Making sure it burns deeply enough to immolate your enemies…” With a flick of her fingers, the flames snuffed out, and the light enveloping her faded. “It requires more than our natural grasp of magic. It requires power and intent, which requires training.”
Peyton stared at where the flame had been, deep in thought.
Lexie held out her hand and a small flame flickered into life above her palm as the light of magic also enveloped her. She focused on it for a moment before making it disappear. “Yeah, what I did in the courtyard earlier definitely tired me out,” she said.
“As you get used to casting, you’ll get stronger. It’ll take practice and time. But you’re guaranteed to be on par with the most fearsome warlocks. Every Grace is.” Chase smiled. “For now, we should get you back to your tower.”
As we followed Chase and Greyjon down the stairs, Zolambi fell into step behind us and Lexie lingered to walk near him briefly. She was quiet when she spoke, but I could still hear her say, “My ancestors were slaves too. I’m sorry that happened to you.” Glancing back briefly, I could see that Zolambi was studying her curiously, slightly taken aback by the statement. Lexie was staring at the steps in front of her, seeming almost too embarrassed to make eye contact.
Feeling this conversation needed more privacy, I moved forward a bit faster, and if he responded, I didn’t hear it.
Back at the tower, Quince and Alissa provided us with dinner and more water, as well as steaming hot water for the tubs. Alissa briefly admonished me for moving the dishes last night, saying they could handle the clean up, to which I simply shrugged. I wasn’t sure what to say, as I didn’t really feel sorry to help. She narrowed her eyes at me as she gathered most of the dishes.
As he was finishing up cleaning the dining area, I asked Quince about whether they brushed their teeth, and he followed me to my room and showed me some other items I had near the counter, which included a small pot of a gritty paste and a strip of linen rag to rub the paste onto my teeth with. I thanked him again, remembering that Peyton had been the one that had reminded us of that basic nicety, and feeling a bit guilty that I hadn’t thought of it sooner.
When he was gone, I used the paste, and swished some water around my mouth thoroughly to rinse it out. It was fairly salty, and had a herbal taste to it that wasn’t completely unpleasant. Still, it was something I would have to get used to. I kicked off my sneakers and decided to try on the leather boots they had left me. They fit well but were a bit stiff, and would probably hurt my feet until I wore them in properly.
I took them back off and considered taking a bath, but the water was still too hot for my tastes, so I wandered out of my room and upstairs. I was thinking of grabbing the things I had left on the table the night before – not that my wallet or keys would ever be necessary again, but they did hold some sentimental value at least, and a few pictures that I wanted to keep. As I entered the common room on that floor, I saw that Peyton was there, curled into one of the armchairs with a book.
It looked like she had already bathed and was dressed in a loose nightgown. Her hair was still damp but had been combed out. I paused sheepishly before entering the room, feeling like an intruder, but was glad to see that my keys, phone, and wallet were still on the table. She glanced up at me, and I gestured to the book in her hands. “Can you read it?” I asked curiously.
She nodded. “Everything looks like it’s in English. It hurts my head even thinking about how that’s possible. Are our minds just automatically understanding what we see and hear and translating it? What does it really look like?” She shrugged, lowering the book as she spoke to me, her finger marking the page she was on.
I finally stepped forward to grab my stuff, then hesitated for a moment before sitting on the couch. I looked up to see that she was watching me, her head slightly tilted. “And what’s the book about?”
“It’s a recipe book.” I blinked in surprise, and she chuckled at the expression on my face. “I asked Alissa if she had any books for me to look at. I was curious if I’d be able to read the language. This was all she had though. I probably should have asked Chase earlier, but I didn’t think about it until dinner.”
I nodded. There was a silence for a moment. I wanted to express how impressed I was over how she was handling everything, but suddenly felt worried about coming off as a giddy fanboy, or sounding condescending if I phrased things poorly. I turned my wallet in my hands, feeling the smoothed leather in my palm. “You’ve been handling this all really well,” I finally said, after taking the moments to carefully contemplate my words.
“Have I?” she asked, bemused.
I looked back up at her. “You’ve thought of things very carefully, just based on the questions you ask when you have the chance. You already have skills that are going to help you here. You’ve been incredibly calm throughout, despite how… unreal any of this is. It’s impressive.”
She smiled, a bit sadly. “I don’t feel calm or impressive though.”
I studied her thoughtfully. “That makes sense. But if you aren’t… you’ve held it all together really well.” She nodded, tracing a hand over the cover of the book. I watched her for another long moment before saying, “What do you think of this entire situation?”
She sighed. “I used to daydream about something like this.”
“Who hasn’t? There’s a reason it’s a popular fiction genre these days.”
“True.” She smiled. “But being here is something else. There’s a lot to learn, and a world to save. It’s… daunting. And I get the feeling there are things they’re keeping from us. But they seem so open that I’m having a hard time pinning down what.” She sighed and shifted position in the chair. “Maybe I’m just being paranoid.”
“Maybe. Maybe not. It’s good to have our guard up.” I stood to leave.
“And what about you? While you’re quietly observing all of us… what do you think of all this?” she asked.
I paused by the door and glanced back at her. “I’m not even sure any of this is real.”
Her lips thinned slightly as she considered that as well. “I hadn’t really considered that possibility. I get the sense it is real though. It all feels real.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “Of course you’d say that if you were part of the simulation,” I said, only partially teasing. I could hear her laughing as I stepped out onto the stairs.
mehryment 