She opened her eyes, and the breeze felt like ice inside when she inhaled with furious desperation. Another slap of cool breeze, and the swarm of lies was washed away.
“That was unnecessary,” she snapped. “I could have done it.”
“I fear for your condition—” Daloes started.
Veria shot up from the ground, dirt and soil all over her skirt, and up to her wrists. “I do not wish to be treated differently, for any reason!” she yelled. “I can do anything your other students would do.”
“You can do much more than that,” Daloes grinned.
“More of your mystical future-telling,” she mumbled, taking deep composing breaths, and attempting to brush some dirt from her clothes. “I find it a little tiring that you seem to know all of these fascinating things I am capable of, but I do not get the same pleasure.”
“Sand is time, and time is Earth,” Daloes began.
“Oh, Fire, here we go again,” Veria muttered to herself, plopping back down on the ground, cross-legged like she did on his cushions at the cottage, preparing for a cryptic lecture.
“If we are all connected through the Earth, then the Earth element is connected,” he continued.
“What are you saying? That I can see the future?”
“It is not future,” Daloes said. “It is a possible truth in time. You currently possess the ability to detect solid truths in present time.”
Veria recounted the strange facts she had uncovered during the recent focus session.
“Like how I knew that Strelzar is not on the Red List,” Veria offered.
“Precisely,” he said, a prideful beam taking his whole face. “You could develop your abilities to expand that scope to all time. Past, present and future. It is all in the Earth.”
“But I thought you said that I am a sapphire,” Veria said.
“The Earth is connected,” he repeated. “We have done our best to try to document the talismans of the most skilled Earth Magers, but they hardly seem to follow a clear pattern, other than where the individual's strong suit is. Once connected to the earth, one can develop their abilities in many ways.”
Veria nodded, taking in all the information.
“But you must choose wisely,” Daloes added. “Just as with the many who have gone mad from the consuming flames of deception, so too have many become consumed with too much knowledge. The future and the past are not solid, and it is not an easy task to live in a world of shifting sands.”
“You do not enjoy being able to see the other times?” Veria asked.
“As a teacher, I would have it no other way,” he explained. “I need to know what my apprentices are capable of, and be able to properly accommodate them in their strengths. But I have had many a pupil become obsessed with when they will die, how they will die, who they will fall in love with, will they have their heart broken, how many children they will have, how will wars begin and end...they either become so wrapped up in time that is not real that they do not live in the time that is, or they make very irrational decisions based on the possible time events they want to avoid or manipulate.”
Willis Villicrey, Veria thought.
“Yes,” Daloes said.
“Alright, how do you do that?” she questioned.
“Not powers, just highly perceptive,” he answered, smirking like a jester.
“Well then, where are my strengths?”
“I will not say, for your must follow your own decisions. I do not plant ideas in my students' heads, nor guide them in ways I think they will excel,” he said.
“But you do have to choose?” Veria asked.
“Yes, unfortunately, the more you train in one area, the less you will be able to focus on another.”
That was understandable enough to Veria.
“To make the best possible choice, you should be fully informed on all the facets of the element—of all the elements, really,” Daloes offered. “Come, come inside and eat. I have more bread and that delicious not-mule cheese, and we can pick some of these wild braiberries.”
While they picked at the bread and cheese and berries, Daloes explained the various elements, and the powers associated with them, and Veria listened studiously.
He began with Fire, describing a skill set that Veria already knew much about. Seduction and desire, deception and madness, falsehoods and detection. “Many Fire Magers can put their powers to good use, with the last skill set alone. As Fire is also light, they are generally very keen inspectors, observers, and spies—which sounds negative, but all kingdoms need information to keep the citizens safe. Yes, there are Fire Magers with good hearts and noble intentions. It is just far and away a small minority. More often than not, one imbued with the Fire element will seek dominance over others, and will do whatever necessary to secure fortune and influence. Formidable enemies, but also powerful allies, if you do not mind how things get done.”
Next he moved on to Water, where she was vaguely familiar, also, but only from what she experienced with Water Magers as a child and what Turqa had explained to her recently. Anything that contained water, which was all living things, could be manipulated by a Water Mager. So, generally, they would train in healing and health, or agriculture, or husbandry. “All exceptionally caring people. We can never tell if the element effects the personality, or the predisposed traits of a given individual attract the element. There are patterns, definitely, and Waters are typically the most nurturing, positive people you will ever meet. They want everything to grow and thrive and survive. Also incredibly intelligent. You do not play strategy against them—even if you can see the future.”
He sounded like he was telling a personal anecdote and not necessarily giving her advice.
“Mager Turqa sort of...scanned me,” Veria said.
“Yes. Just as you connected with energy in the earth, he connected with the water energy in your blood. From there, he could detect any abnormalities in your body, or simply determine that everything is normal, which I would assume was your case.”
“Actually, no,” she corrected.
Daloes furrowed his brow and cocked his head.
“Well, everything is fine, but he said he detected a strong energy distribution. I have an 'interesting balance',” Veria explained.
The little old man crossed his arms and humphed, but she could tell he was filled with pride. “I could have told you that, and I would not even need to examine your blood!”
“But if they can manipulate water in blood to stop bleeding, or flow it through the stem of a flower to help it bloom, why do they not manipulate it in freestanding form?” Veria changed the subject back to the elements, and off of her energy balances.
“You mean why no storms and fountains and rapid bath drawing?”
Veria chuckled. “Exactly.”
“They can—well, the good ones can—but they are not allowed to,” Daloes said.
“Not allowed? Not allowed by whom?” she asked.
“The Consortium. The Kingdom. The world,” he answered. “Every element has what is called a hard elemental. For example, next I was going to talk to you about Wind. Since the passage of certain regulations on hard elemental skills, it has become a very limited element. Much of what they normally do with their skills is hard elemental.”
“Why are they not allowed to use the hard elemental skills?”
“Because it is extremely dangerous, and almost always used as a weapon in the end,” he said, plainly. “Fire Magers can manipulate flames, Earth Magers can control the earth around them, Water Magers can cause entire villages to flood or drought in a matter of seconds. Wind Magers, though,” he shuddered and stopped.
“What?”
“In addition to their abilities in the areas of invisibility, travel and speed, they have the potential to convert the air around them into sharp bladed projectiles, or large sheets of wind capable of incapacitating large groups or people.”
“You cannot see them or hear them, and they can just slice
you open with the air?” Veria asked, hugging her knees into her chest.
“You can see why there were some regulations passed on hard elementals,” he said, nodding. “Every assassin in the history of the world was a highly trained, highly skilled Wind Mager.”
“But, they are still out there, right? They could still practice their skills if they wanted to,” Veria said.
“Also true. Many of the kingdoms decided that they would Red-List and imprison any Magers practicing hard elementals, and that the best way to prevent it in the future was to ban the instruction or training of any hard elemental skills or methods,” Daloes explained.
“Has it worked?” she asked.
“In some ways. In some areas,” he answered with a shrug. “There is no stopping evil. It will find a way. You can only fight it. What do you fight it with when it trains harder than you do?”
Veria could tell he did not approve of the regulations on hard elementals. He sighed.
“Which brings us to our little corner of the elemental world, dear,” he continued. “Earth hard elemental has all but vanished in many areas of the world. It was hard enough to train to begin with, and it is a very obvious hard elemental—rocks and dirt flying everywhere. The villagers notice, let us put it that way. Add the rulings half a century ago and it is almost impossible to develop earth hard elemental skills in secret.
“However, the range of Earth Mager skills is a wide one,” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Who needs to be able to pass a teapot across the tent without getting up when you can touch a person's suicide letter and uncover their entire past?”
Veria gasped audibly. Not only had he abruptly brought up the topic of her father's death, but, floating right in front of her was a steaming tea kettle and clay cup. The tea kettle tipped and poured the spicy tea into the cup, and the cup nudged her hand gently, while Daloes watched her with glee from the opposite side of the tent.
“Drink it,” he giggled. “You are going to need it.”
-XIII-
“The earth is connected,” Daloes kept repeating as he explained the various facets of the Earth element skills.
She knew about sensing truth, seeing possible futures and learning of the past, and he had told her, and displayed for her, the existence of hard elemental skills. Then he ventured into an area of skills they had not yet discussed, but she was vaguely aware existed.
“Tell me how you felt out there, when we first arrived at the clearing,” he said.
“Peaceful,” she answered easily. “Serene. Complete calm.”
Daloes nodded and explained, “It is called natural state.”
“Earth Magers can force you into natural state,” Veria guessed, remembering when her father would talk about the 'calming effect' Willis Villicrey had mastered.
“Ha! When you say force, it makes it sound so awful,” Daloes laughed. “But yes, that is exactly what they are doing. They access that same connection to the earth that you did, and can transpose natural state on any living being.”
“That seems so unfair,” Veria grumbled.
“You do not enjoy being calm?” he smirked.
“Oh, I suppose I enjoy it as much as the next person,” Veria shrugged. “But being relaxed can leave one vulnerable.”
Her Master looked at her through his bushy gray brows, with a mixture of gratification and guile. “So, you would consider it a weapon?”
“In certain cases, you would be removing a person's defenses,” Veria stated. “Yes, it could be.”
“The Diamonds,” Daloes sighed. “The natural states. Generally, you hear stories of how they just make people feel calm and at ease when they are younger. They have no control over it. People love talking to them, telling them things they would never tell anyone else—their defenses are gone, and they have no idea.”
Veria's stomach lurched. That is exactly how she had felt around Andon, sparing the few occasions when he had infuriated the wits out of her, but even those did not last long.
“When they train it, and develop it, gain control over it, it is an extremely useful and powerful method,” Daloes muttered. “Ambassador Villicrey is proof of the good that a combination of focus on truth and honesty and the utilization of natural state can bring in terms of navigating politics and peace between nations.
“There is one skill that I hesitate to even mention, as it is not even something I can train you in,” Daloes explained with trepidation, staring at his lap. “A sect of Diamond Earth Magers have been able to connect to memories as truths in time.”
Veria gulped. “And they can change them?”
“They can remove them.”
She could not think of a response. That sounded terrible, and unfair.
“It is a very limited ability, and not used very often,” he tried to assure her. “But some people do seek out the services of the Diamonds specifically because there is something, or someone, they wish to forget. The constraints are that the Mager has to know what memory they are looking for, and it has to be somewhat recent, or else it becomes too intertwined with the person's entire past as a whole. So, they cannot go running around picking out memories from strangers head's and wiping them out.”
That was a relief, Veria thought. She yawned.
“I have lectured for too long,” Daloes took the cue. “You need rest.”
“But—”
“We will talk about the rest in the morning,” he cut her off. “Your father, and why I asked you all those personal questions at lunch, I know, I know.”
“How do expect me to sleep with all these questions in my mind?” she asked.
“I could offer my limited services of natural state,” he smirked, “but I did not feel you entirely approved of that, even though I have used it to aid in your training already. So I spiked your tea with sleeping berry.”
She groaned and narrowed her eyes at him as disapprovingly as she could manage, though every muscle in her body was warm and droopy.
“I said you would need it,” he laughed as he covered himself in a thick wool blanket and blew out the lantern.
Upon the realization that she could not fight it, she did the same with her blanket and lantern, and drifted into a heavy, restful sleep.
Awaking to a beam of blinding summer sunlight, Veria rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly. Daloes bustled into the tent from outside and presented her with a basket of berries.
“Not the sleeping kind again, I hope?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
He laughed, and shook his head. “How did you sleep last night?” he asked.
“I had a dream that I was a blacksmith, and I was not very good at it, because I kept burning my fingers,” Veria admitted, a bit embarrassed, even though it was only a dream.
Daloes squeezed his eyebrows together and surveyed her with concern, before finally muttering, “Very interesting.”
“It is not interesting at all,” Veria contended. “It was a dream. Did I mention that I was making horseshoes for invisible wind horses? Dreams are nonsense.”
“Blacksmithing is a practical mix of the worlds of metal and flame,” Daloes said. “The world of Earth and Fire come together quite often, usually at odds, one fighting the will of the other. In blacksmithing, metal is forced to take a new shape, bending and molding to the inclination of the heat. A powerful weapon or useful item is created, but it could not be done without the two elements working together.”
“So I am some useful creation of Earth and Fire?” Veria mocked.
“Maybe you are. Maybe you will be. Maybe you will decide to become a blacksmith and be absolutely terrible at it,” Daloes said. “Or, maybe, it was just a silly dream about flying horses.”
“I am siding with the latter,” Veria mumbled.
“Do not be so quick to jump to conclusions,” her master warned. “Part of being a strong Earth Mager is keeping an open mind. In fact, staying as close as you can to your natural state on a regular basis will greatly improve your skills.”
/> Veria must have given him a quizzical look while she continued plucking berries from the basket and popping them in her mouth. He handed her a plate of biscuits, which she also ate eagerly.
“As Earth Magers, we must live in natural state, we must speak truth and spread truth and be true to ourselves, otherwise our powers can become tainted with the irrational falsities of our own reason and perception,” Daloes explained.
Swallowing a bite of biscuit, Veria nodded. “The questions from yesterday.”
Her master nodded back.
“I have to tell the truth, and let go of any thoughts or emotions that could twist my view of reality, or else it could affect my ability to find truth,” she said.
“Well said!” Daloes exclaimed. “Plus, there is that whole bit about how lies and deception will drive an Earth Mager mad if not filtered properly—self-deceit is no exception, and certainly harder to filter one's own deceiving thoughts, I might add.”
“So, you made me acknowledge that I am heartbroken about Andon's departure,” Veria sighed. “Is this also why you brought up my father's death?”
“Partly because I feel that it haunts you,” Daloes explained, “and partly because I myself had been investigating it, but, alas am too old to just go jutting and jumping around the Kingdom anymore.”
“Why were you investigating my father's death?” Veria questioned.
“I am an esteemed member of the Consortium,” Daloes defended. “A team of four Magers, one from each element, was assigned to look into the matter, but the King closed the investigation after the suicide letter was uncovered. I thought it was fishy, so I kept digging.”
“What did you find?” Veria asked.
“Not much,” Daloes said. “And I will not be able to find much without laying my hands on that letter.”
“Where is it?”
“The location of the letter is partially why I ceased my investigation,” he explained. “The last I had heard on the whereabouts of all evidence pertaining to the case is that it had been taken to the Consortium's Elemental Shrine on the Island of Tarddiad.”
Lord and Servant: (Book I of the Elementals Series) Page 10
