by Marc Johnson
The wizard brought himself out of his trance, and his staff globe became clear. “You've already learned that emotions can be tied to a wizard's power. That's how you saved the princess. That's how your power manifested.” I hoped he would explain more, but he changed the subject. “Come, let me give you a tour.”
The inside of the White Mountain was far bigger than I had imagined. A whole network of caves had been dug out and constructed. I thought Stradus had done it, but he said that someone had lived here before him and designed the cave complex, though he never found out who. When the gods led him to the place, it was already abandoned, with nothing remaining but a few torches and some leftover crates of supplies. Whoever it was had left in a hurry.
Stradus thought it might have been dwarves, since they were known to make their homes in caves and mountains. The way the White Mountain was designed seemed to say yes, but not all the stones had been smoothed and carved out in the dwarven manner. Some of the archways were uneven, and holes were not completely filled in. Not signs of a battle or struggle, just sloppy workmanship. The dwarves were many things—sloppy wasn't one of them. Not when it came to building and engineering.
I couldn't tell the difference. I had never met a dwarf or seen what they could build. It amazed me that such a place could exist and be protected from the harsh elements outside.
Stradus took me all the way back to the cave entrance to start my tour. I shivered, glad to be out of the storm, but still too close for comfort. The caves I had seen earlier were where Cynder dwelled. One was his sleeping chamber and the others were where he kept his food. The huge caves had plenty of room for him. He could even stretch his wings and fly in one of them.
After a quick tour of Cynder’s domain, we ended up back at the room where we had eaten. The second I stepped through the doorway, the same force tugged at me again. I stopped and looked over my shoulder.
“Is something the matter?” Stradus asked, cocking his head.
I paused and put a finger to my mouth, thinking. “I'm not quite sure. I get a strange feeling whenever I pass through this entrance.”
“Your skills are more developed than I thought. I put a web there. A weak and simple web, made to detect someone's presence. It also allows those with the slightest hint of magical skill in them to pass.”
“A web? You mean like a spider?”
“Exactly, my boy,” Stradus said. “Webs are spells you must create with your hands. They're commonly used as detection systems or shields. By the time I'm done with you, you'll be able to see this web and undo it.”
The wizard led me through the left door and down the passage that went past my room. A bit farther on, the cramped tunnel split in two. We stopped and he pointed down the left branch.
“Down here are three rooms: the garden, the spring, and the storage room.”
The huge storage room was full of barrels and wooden crates containing various supplies. After that room was a small one containing the spring, which bubbled out of an elaborate marble fountain. I had no idea where the water came from, but it was good to have fresh water easily available, though it was no Peaceful Pond.
The last room was amazing.
Wondrous flowers and plants colored the room. Some shined and glowed, despite having no sunlight. Sweet aromas tickled my nose. There were many plants I had never seen before. I didn't understand how they could survive, considering there was no light except the torches. I shook my head. It must have been magic.
As we walked around the room, I touched the soft plants, feeling the tenderness of their petals and leaves. I bent down, examining a bright purple flower.
“You like plants?” Stradus asked.
I nodded, thinking of all the time I spent in the forest.
“Me too. I'll include some things about them in your training.”
I turned my head to see a wooden workbench with flasks containing different colored liquids. Stradus explained to me that he used the space to develop and distill various plant-based potions. I wanted to stay and marvel at his garden, but Stradus tugged me along.
“Don't go through this door,” Stradus said, pointing to another door beyond the three he’d shown me. It looked like it hadn’t been opened in ages. “It's a maze past here, and it goes deeper and deeper into the mountain.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to get lost?”
“That isn't the reason I don't want you to open the door, Hellsfire. I've put a strong web here in case you get curious during your stay, and it could harm you if you try to undo it. It's for your protection as well as mine. Cynder and I aren't the only ones dwelling in this mountain.”
“I thought you said you didn't find the people who carved out this place?”
“I didn't. I found something else entirely.”
The wizard’s words only made my curiosity rise. What else besides a wizard and a dragon could be in this mountain? Maybe I would find out one day, but it wouldn’t be anytime soon, since I couldn’t even see the web, let alone undo it. We made our way back to the fork in the road, and he told me what other rooms lay in wait.
“There are four rooms down here,” Stradus said. “There's the exercise room, the practice room, the library, and the latrine. You'll be spending most of your time in the first three rooms. When you advance enough, then you'll be able to come into my garden and concoct some potions. Come.”
We made our way into the exercise room. It was huge, with a long circular track carved into the floor around the perimeter. In the center of the room was a pile of iron bars with round rocks attached to each end.
“You must train your body while you're here,” the wizard said. “As you know from climbing this mountain, external forces are going to take their toll on you. Every other day, you will work in the library.”
The library contained many books—far more than I had ever seen. There were shelves marching down the room, all full. The peculiar smell of old books hovered around me. There was also a reading table with a couple of candles on it. I imagined what stories lay in those books, waiting to be awakened.
“Tell me, Hellsfire, do you know how to read?”
“My mother taught me when I was younger. She thought I’d need the skill, even though books are hard to come by where I live. I'm not the most proficient reader, but I can manage.” I stood staring at the rows and rows of information. To think what kind of knowledge a wizard had, and what I could learn.
“That's good, my boy. Now I don't have to spend my time teaching you to read. That reminds me, is there any particular skill you're good at?”
I shrugged. “Not really. When I was younger, I tried taking an apprenticeship with a blacksmith. He was reluctant to take me on, but did it as a favor to my mother. I could never get things right with the metal. Nails were bent out of shape, and pots came out bulbous instead of round. Now I spend my time helping my mother out at a neighbor’s farm. I can herd, feed, and take care of animals with the best of them.”
“Did you at least go to school?”
“When I was younger I did, but as I got older I went to work. It’s not as if we’re wealthy, and I had the option of getting a better education by going to some far-off school. Don't worry, though. My mother taught me a lot of things.” I stood even straighter, as if I had something to prove to this wizard aside from magic.
“That’s good. What else did she teach you?”
“She taught me how to ride a horse, sew, and slaughter an animal as painlessly as possible. But the most important thing she taught me was about people. She taught me to judge a person by what's in them and to trust my instincts. And to help people because it’s the right thing to do and that it’d come back to me. She even allowed travelers to stay at our house, and I heard lots of stories about other parts of the land. It was amazing, the stories they and my mother would tell me. I always wished I could go somewhere.”
“Don’t worry, you're going to go far in life.”
“That prophecy of yours.”
I nodded, thinking about what he said. I made a silent promise to myself, never to give up or give in to those limits.
“Your mother sounds like a very good person,” Stradus said.
“She is. She's well liked in town.”
“I am curious though, Hellsfire. What happened to your father? I didn’t see him the night you were born.”
“He died in the Burning Sands before I was born. Mother told me he died a hero, protecting everyone, but she wouldn't tell me any more than that. She’d always get teary eyed and couldn't go on. This is the only thing I have to remember him by.” I pulled out my dagger and handed it to him.
“‘I will be with you always.’ This is a fine dagger, Hellsfire.” Stradus made some thrusting moves. “Sharp and strong, and the hilt is well crafted. Where did your father get it?”
“The Burning Sands.”
“You should always cherish it.” Stradus handed the dagger back and I secured it on my belt. “You have a fine family, my boy. You would do well to remember that.”
“I will.”
“I suppose we should get back to the tour,” Stradus said. “This library is where you will train your mind. These books have a lot, and I mean a lot of information. They contain spells, incantations, summonings, prophecies, and histories—among other things. Of course, many of these books aren't written in the language we’re now speaking. Hence, you’ll have to learn the most common language amongst us magical folk. It’s called Caleea. It’s the one on your dagger, as a matter of fact. It’s an ancient and mostly forgotten language, but you will learn it nevertheless. Now, let me take you to the practice room.”
The practice room was the most plain and boring out of all the rooms. All that was in it were some candles, rocks, and wooden sticks. But the room had an eerie sense about it that bothered me. All the other rooms had some sort of life and sound in them, but this room had the feeling of being a noiseless void. It didn’t seem to belong to this world.
“I guess you could say this would be the most important room,” the wizard said. “You’ll be practicing your magic in here. Don't get me wrong, all the other rooms are important, but here is where you’ll hone your skills and abilities.” He stepped a few feet away from me and turned to face me. He cleared his throat. “Let me see what you can do.”
I hesitated. “What do you mean?”
“I need to see where you stand with your power. Do what you can with your gift.”
“But—”
“Don’t worry about what you think you can or cannot do.”
I shrugged. There wasn’t much I could do. “All right.” I showed him my ability to make fire and maintain it with my mind, and my ability to heat up my hands to varying degrees.
I started to let go of the magic when he said, “Don't stop. Tell me, do you know how you’re doing it?”
I stared at him. I never talked while using my magic. Magic. It still felt funny to say that.
“I know it's hard, Hellsfire, but try not to focus too hard on the magic. It'll be like walking and talking once you get used to it. Please tell me if you know how you're doing it.”
I nodded, struggling not to feel like the weight of the magic was crushing me. “I kind of do. It's like I'm touching some kind of inner fire and I'm able to pull it out. It gets easier when I become angry or stressed, but I also learned to focus and use it to a certain extent.” I released my magic and started panting. Talking and performing magic was something I wasn’t used to.
“I see. Hmmm, I wanted to save this until later, but we might as well get to it. We haven’t much time.” Stradus sat cross-legged on the floor. He patted the ground for me to join him. “I guess I should start from the beginning and explain to you how magic works. You know of the four gods, correct?”
I smiled. “Of course. Who doesn't? With the exception of those who are like my mother and believe in only one god.”
“I didn't know your mother believed in just one god.” He stroked his long, white beard. “I'm going to tell you some of what you already know, but please bear with me, because it ties in with magic.
“Each god represents one of the four elements of nature. You have one for air or wind, one for water, one for earth or land, and one for fire.” As he talked, the globe on his staff changed colors to suit each god. I marveled at it, but I didn’t think he noticed he was doing it.
“What you probably don't know is there are actually six gods.”
He stopped, letting the information sink into my head. Six gods? How could there be six gods? To think that my own mother and most of the people in Sedah worshipped one of the six gods and chose to ignore the other five. It made no sense as to why anyone would not acknowledge the other gods, but then again I thought there were only four gods.
I cupped my head in my hands, remembering what the others had told me when I was younger. I tried to see if I had missed something. While I might have forgotten a holiday from time to time, performed a ritual in error, or dressed wrong, I couldn't remember two missing gods.
I had always thought those in town who worshipped one god were ignorant. It just seemed like the world and the heavens were far too much for only one god to handle. If I was wrong about the gods, what else was I wrong about? What would happen when I died? What had happened to my father?
“If what you say is true, then why don't people worship all six gods?” I asked.
“I'm not a priest, Hellsfire. I won't be able to answer the truly deep questions you have about your faith.”
“But—”
He raised his staff in front of him. “We can go over this later. You need to pay attention to what I'm going to tell you.”
I bit my inner cheek and pursed my lips. I guess he was right. The gods weren't going anywhere, and I had a more immediate problem to deal with—my powers. The wizard stared at me, waiting to see what I'd do. I nodded and relaxed.
“As I was saying, the other two gods don't quite represent the elements of nature, but at the same time, they do,” he continued. “One represents death and destruction while the other represents life and healing. Like the other four gods, these are neither good nor bad, just a fact of life. No one worships these gods in most of Northern Shala, but I guess those in Sedah do. They worship the life god.”
“Magic,” the wizard continued, “works, more or less, the same way as these six elements. Inside everyone and everything lurks a magical force. What separates us wizards from everyone else is our ability to access this force called mana. There's a mana for each of the six elements, and it can be represented by color. You have blue for air, red for fire, black for death, white for life, green for earth, and a blue-green for water. Water always was a tricky color.” Stradus laughed.
“Inside everyone, there's always one mana that's dominant—one mana that outshines the others and which people have the most ability to use. Even though most people will never in their lifetime be able to look inside themselves and use it directly in its purest form, they’ll still access it. For example, you have people who are good with nature or able to take care of the earth with their green mana; or people who are good at sailing and fishing, which uses the blue-green mana; or people who are able to understand poisons, death, and decay, which are linked to black mana. You have the power of red mana, but, more precisely, of fire. Do you follow me so far?”
I stared at him wide-eyed. I wanted to say no. Instead I scratched my head and said, “Sort of.”
“What don't you understand?”
“You said yourself that your…mana, was that of the air, and yet you're able to keep a beautiful garden without any sunlight, and you're also able to keep the torches consistently burning. How? Those have nothing to do with air.”
The wizard rubbed the globe on his staff. “I started out like most people do in all walks o
f life, with something I was naturally good at. It just happened to be air magic. It's not all that different from you with fire.”
When he reminded me of what I could do, I realized I had forgotten about using my power. I closed my eyes, concentrating on keeping the flame lit but not doing anything with it. It rose near the surface, where I could release it quickly with but a thought.
“As I advanced,” Stradus said, “I learned other things. I learned to tap into the other mana that were inside me and in the world. I'm not as skilled with the others as I am with air, but I can use them well enough.
“The only real trouble I have is with white and black mana. Even in my day, they were very elusive and hard to control, and only a few have mastered them. The only wizards I knew who had mastered them to their fullest—besides those on the Wizards’ Council—were Renak and Shala.” He whistled. “And no one could compare to those two. The things they did baffled even the Council.
“You will learn, just as I did, the skills and knowledge you'll need to use the other mana and you'll experience just how difficult it may be. Lastly, when you master using mana, your eyes will reflect that.”
To prove his point, the wizard's eyes lost their pupils and solidified into each of the colors in turn. I felt the intense power, even though he didn't do anything with it. It reminded me of being close to a powerful storm. I couldn't see it, but I knew it was there. I nodded in understanding. He let go of the mana, and his eyes returned to normal.
Stradus was going to say something else, but stopped when he saw the look on my face. “If you have any questions or don't understand something, you shouldn't hesitate to ask. One of my old teachers used to say, 'When it comes to the Arts, there's no such thing as a dumb question.'”
I paused and exhaled. “No, we can move on. I think I understand the basics of magic and mana.” Meanwhile, my mind tried to absorb his words. I understood the idea of starting out with something you're good at, but I didn't understand how one could branch out with mana. I felt no mana other than fire, but then, I didn't know what to look for or how to go about it. I had to experience it firsthand. I guessed I was going to be here awhile.
