Soon those thoughts turned to sentences and more complex thoughts and feeling and images, and by now they were able to hold entire conversations in silence as they read each other’s active minds.
As yet she couldn’t go digging about inside Gentle Waters mind, all she could do was read the thoughts he was thinking right there and then. It was like reading one of those boards with the red LED’s that scrolled messages across them. But it also had a TV attached so that images could flash up on the screen too.
Gentle Water had been quick to tell Amanda not to use this Magic too much or to spy on the thoughts of others too often. Listening into the thoughts of people you met had a way of making a Magi jaded and disillusioned with the Human race as your worst fears are confirmed. He explained further saying, how would you feel knowing I’m hearing every little thought you ever think, all those doubts, and fears, all those guilty little passing thoughts and feelings that are yours and no one else’s? They’re private and part of you but don’t define you, and they might make the people who know you run for the hills if they could hear them. Amanda had thought about that for a moment and initially thought he was being silly, but as the day passed, and she kept noticing the occasional passing thought she had that meant nothing to her but occurred to her all the same, and then wondered what people might think if they could hear these thoughts, it was only then that Amanda realised just what Gentle Water had been talking about.
Although useful, it wasn’t something to be used all the time, as you could all too easily judge someone far too quickly based on a few passing and ultimately inconsequential thoughts.
As she watched a documentary on the TV one night she was aware that watching it wasn’t totally unlike reading some one’s mind, there were the images and the voice over as well that explained things, which would be thoughts and feelings when reading a mind. It tickled her to think that reading David Attenborough’s mind would be like watching one of his Wildlife documentaries, complete with authentic commentary.
This latest part of her Magical training had also been the most recent. It was Monday and she had watched the TV last night and come to that particular conclusion about mind reading then. Something she couldn’t do against her opponent at the moment because he had his own Aegis erected about him to deflect any Magic she might try.
But this didn’t stop her from using Magic altogether, and as Amanda moved about in this deadly dance she was carefully reading the threads of fate and seeing where her opponent would be moving too next. It was clear that he had been doing the same which had led to this current stalemate.
Sometimes when she fought like this, she couldn’t help but think back to New York and Howie. She had first learnt to fight under Howie’s tutelage and insistence, but there were times when she also thought she would like to find Howie and give him a punch.
She had been lucky to meet Howie when she did, several weeks after arriving in Manhattan after leaving the Orphanage in Ireland, when living on the streets was starting to take its toll.
Amanda had been sleeping rough almost since arriving in New York, spending the first few nights in a cockroach infested dump of a hotel, until her money ran dry, and then she was on the streets. The other homeless guys didn’t seem to like the new girl on the street, and Amanda found herself hounded from one sleeping spot to another. All the good ones were taken. As the nights passed, she had started to regret moving here, the cold, the wind and the rain was mind numbing. She had never been so hungry.
Finding the empty covered entrance to the apartment block had been a god send, and for the first time in weeks, she had a night relatively sheltered from the elements.
Over the next few nights she had noticed one of the residents was taking slightly more interest in her then the others who passed her. A tall and powerful looking black guy, a couple of times he had paused for a moment to look down at her. When she had opened her eyes and looked back, both times he had pretended not to have been looking and headed inside.
‘Freak’, Amanda muttered irritably under her breath, and hoped he would not make trouble for her.
On her fifth night on the stoop a raging storm kept her firmly awake. She had been thoroughly soaked in the run here and now sat shivering in the shadows looking at the sheets of rain cascading down before her. A figure ran in from the rain and shook off the water on the stoop, Amanda shrank down, keeping a low profile and averted her eyes. In her peripheral vision the figure started to head inside but stopped halfway, he hesitated a moment and seemed to be about to head inside again before coming out of the doorway and taking a step towards Amanda. Her eyes flicked up and saw the black guy again, she tensed, she didn’t want a confrontation but she felt ready for one if it went that way.
‘Um, er, I’m sorry but I couldn’t help noticing you,’ he said, his voice deep and strong. ‘But I was, er, wondering if…’
‘No I won’t bloody move on you feckin’ freak! Have you seen the rain tonight? It’s Lashin’ down. You can call the feckin’ police for all I care, but I ain’t shiftin!’
The guy backed off at her outburst and raised his hands in supplication. He seemed shocked at her anger.
‘Whoa there girl! I wasn’t going ask you to move on. I…, well, I thought you looked like you could use a cup of hot chocolate or something.’ He then gestured into the apartment and seemed to be waiting for another outburst.
Amanda had been overwhelmed. She had experienced nothing but hardship, and hatred from people so far and was at the end of her tether. This offer of a warm drink hit her right in her heart and in seconds tears where flooding down her cheeks. The man looked utterly lost, he didn’t seem to know what to do and just stood there, she thought he looked like he wanted to reach out and tell her it was ok but seemed afraid to do so.
Amanda had choked back a laugh and stood up with her shoulder bag and wiped away her tears.
‘Well, okay, but don’t you be tryin’ anything funny alright? I’ve got a knife,’ she’d threatened. She did have a knife, something she made sure she had after she had been grabbed by some scary man one night in the subway as she tried to catch some sleep. She had woken up to his pawing hands all over her, she had panicked, kicked him and ran. She’d felt so shaken from the experience that she made sure she got herself a weapon the next day.
‘No, don’t worry, you’ll be safe with me,’ he had replied.
At any other time in her life, Amanda would have refused such an offer, but not tonight.
The man ushered her inside.
The man had taken her upstairs and introduced himself as Howie, short for Howard Galton. He showed her up into his apartment and had given her a towel to dry herself off with while he made her the Hot Drink, so before long both of them were sat on his couch and he was asking her where she came from and how she ended up on the street. Amanda had been a long time now without really speaking to anyone, so she needed someone to off load onto and Amanda took this opportunity and spouted the whole story to this friendly stranger. Three mugs of Hot Chocolate later plus several tearful moments and Amanda had told him everything, Howie had listened and asked questions and had taken an interest in everything she had said, he commented that he loved her Irish accent and had been wondering over the past week why such a pretty girl was sleeping rough, it hadn’t seemed right to him.
A few times Amanda had wondered if she had done the right thing, heading into a stranger’s house was not really the brightest thing to do and under normal circumstances she probably never would have done it. Only later had she realised how desperate she had become, anyone could have made the offer and she might have taken them up on it and ended up dead by the end of the night, but Howie was warm and friendly and when he offered her the couch for the night, as she sat there yawning and looking very sleepy, she had said yes immediately.
The next day she awoke after having the best night’s sleep she had had so far in New York, the Apartment felt warm and she could hear breakfast being made in the kitchenette
. The two helpings of hot cooked food were pure heaven, and after the meal the two of them had got to talking once again. Howie told Amanda how that when he was a kid, a stranger, a man, had taken a chance on him and offered him a friendship, he had become a sort of mentor to Howie, had taught him a trade and kept him off the streets. Howie had not fallen into the trap of Gang membership his brothers had, and instead became a productive member of society because of someone taking a chance on him. Howie said to Amanda he would do the same for her, he was willing to take a chance on her and help her out. He said to her that if she wanted to, she could stay in his apartment for a time while she got herself sorted out. It wasn’t an indefinite offer and it wasn’t a ticket for her to laze around the place doing nothing, but he sympathised with Amanda’s plight and wanted to help.
Again Amanda felt overwhelmed by his kindness and dissolved into tears, she accepted his offer and never looked back.
They were good memories, made all the more sour by how their friendship had ended.
Back in the here and now, as she fought her attacker, she was about to deflect another strike from him when she got a sudden feeling of apprehension about stopping this particular blow, but it was such a split second of thought that she did it anyway and when the blow hit her forearm it felt like she had been hit in the arm with an electrified cattle prod as a feeling of intense pain shot through her from the point where the attack hit her. Her Aegis shattered at the same time, the magical nature of that attack overloading it.
She faltered, jerking her hand away with a yelp of pain, but tried to recover and lashed out with her other hand. But she wasn’t concentrating and it was a sloppy move, her opponent caught her fist, he pulled and twisted it in movements that seemed to blur together, and before she knew what was going on, she lay on her back in cool dew covered long grass that quickly soaked through her leggings and long sleeved top.
It was late October, the weather had long ago turned much cooler as the Autumn grew stronger all about them. Some of the leaves had turned brown and dropped from the trees, the colour and vibrancy of the summer was fading quickly, replaced by the browns and oranges of fall. The mornings were calm, mist shrouded affairs, grey and quiet as the milky mist rose from the damp valley floor. Recently they had awoken to grey windows and no view as the morning mist had boiled up and blanketed the cottage making it seem like the outside world had disappeared altogether. They went about collecting logs and having a roaring fire some evenings rather than the central heating and would hold warm cups of hot chocolate in both hands while wrapped in warming jumpers.
But for now, Amanda found herself on her ass once more in the cool morning air, panting to try and catch her breath from the sparing fight she had just lost against Gentle Water. She had lost count of the number of times she had fought him by now, but could count the times she had won on her fingers. He was leagues ahead of her in his ability and it wasn’t at all surprising she ended up on her back or face down in the grass at the end of each sparing match following another twist and tumble. He never really hurt her, much as she didn’t hurt him, but both of them had the bruises and grazes that inevitably came from such intense training. Both accepted them as a part and parcel of the training regime they were going through. Amanda sometimes saw them as little trophies when she got one from a mile stone fight, especially if it was one of the very few fights she had won.
Gentle Water reached down and taking her hand lifted her to her feet where she stood stooped over for a moment catching her breath.
‘Well done Amanda, you held your own well.’
‘Thank you, but it wasn’t enough was it,’ she gasped as she slowly caught her breath. ‘Can you teach me Magic that stops me getting tired, or out of breath,’ she said, and inspected the growing red welt on her arm where that last punch had landed, ‘or from getting bruised for that matter.’ She wiggled her fore arm out in front of her face to indicate the mark there. ‘That was one hell of a final punch. It felt like an electric shock, I’m going to have an ugly bruise there later on so I am.’
Gentle Water nodded solemnly, ‘Yes, you will. It is the Magic you learn next, it is basically Essentia, concentrated and released in a strike.’
Amanda winced slightly as she flexed her hand at the end of the bruised arm, she sucked in breath through her teeth as it stung slightly. ‘I thought Essentia fuelled life, you’re saying it can hurt it too?’
‘That is correct. If concentrated and released suddenly, it can cause pain, like in your arm. You are not hurt too badly I hope?’
‘No, it just feckin’ stings a little, I’m being a wimp really.’ She flexed her hand once more and then let the arm drop to her side. Both where still hot from the fight and in the cool air there was a slight haze of steam rising from them as they talked. Amanda’s thermal leggings were thick and dark, like her top and gloves, and, despite the slight wetness from her fall, she felt very warm in herself. Her face, exposed to the morning air was both hot and cold, her cheeks and nose were flushed crimson while the rest of her face had already lost its tan and was looking quite pale. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail, it was still a little wet from the shower earlier and was now full of morning due and clung to her back and shoulders. Amanda thought Gentle Water looked flushed from the fight as well, a film of sweat covered his bald head and his cheeks were full of colour. He wore black loose fitting garments, and as with most of his clothing, it was tailored in a traditional Oriental fashion that conjured images of Tibetan Monks and forgotten mountain top monasteries.
Gentle Water looked up and waited for Amanda to finish drying her face with a towel she had hung from a nearby branch. ‘I will now teach you about channelling Essentia so you can strike in a way that is much more powerful than normal.’
‘Sounds grand to me GW.’ Amanda smiled at him. She didn’t feel humiliated by the fall she had taken at all, and by now apart from a few muscle aches and pains she felt ready to learn. Her arm still hurt, there was a dull throbbing where the strike had landed and her blood was being pumped into and through it.
One thing Gentle Water was very keen to hammer into Amanda was that Magic could be a great tool to have, and could do wonderful things, but it could also come to rule your life, something which must never happen. He had told her on a few occasions about how Magic and the abilities it gave you can all too easily go to your head, lead you into thinking your better than anyone else and make you very egotistical. The powers it gives you are seductive; they make your life easier, and can quickly turn a well-adjusted person into a monster. In the history of the Magi there have been far too many Magi than would be possible to count who have burnt themselves out or who have succumbed to their darker, baser emotions and thoughts because of their Magical Ability. Magi who have set themselves up as figure heads of cults, leaders of Magically successful businesses or criminal empires, or Magi who have gone slightly off the rails and have gone on killing sprees in their madness. In the end it’s up to the Magi community at large to bring them down before they either kill people, or expose the Magi to the world and destroy the Magi community in the process.
He told her that Magi tend to get like this if they come to rely on Magic to do everything for them. Magi can make Magic do whatever they like, and it’s tempting to just think your teeth clean and to think your clothes on. It’s tempting to float everywhere and never walk but to remain in the peak of physical fitness no matter how much of a slob you are. But to do that is to step out onto a very slippery slope which is very difficult to get off of.
It was for this reason that Amanda said nothing about the bruises and the aches to Gentle Water. She had chosen to let them heal naturally, to let the magic of Mother Nature do its thing. She wasn’t dying after all, it was only a few twinges and pulled muscles, she would survive them all and be stronger for it.
‘As I say, Essentia can make people feel pain. All life has Essentia passing through it, feeding it, if you disrupt that flow you can cause much pain. So, you need
to draw Essentia into you, through concentrating and realising the truth of what you are doing. You store that energy inside you like battery, ready for it to be used. This stored energy can be used to fuel your Magic, making it stronger, but for today we will just learn how to release it. Remember to keep your thoughts strong but calm, like water in lake. Are you ready to try?’
So Amanda gave it a go and focused her mind on gathering in the local Essentia into herself and imagining herself as a giant battery. It took a few goes for her to ease herself into doing it but before long she managed to suck in her first amount of excess Essentia and felt the rush and intense feeling of energy that swept over her. It caught her by surprise and she gasped as she did it, these intense sensations were unlike anything she had felt before.
The feeling wasn’t an unpleasant one, it was just a surprise to her as she wasn’t expecting such a thing, so it made her catch her breath somewhat so that she couldn’t hold onto the energy. She glanced over at Gentle Water who was watching and she caught him smiling to himself upon seeing this reaction in her. Amanda smiled back and went back to the task in hand. She concentrated again and imagined herself sucking in the Essentia all around her, and once more she felt the rush and the surging of energy that came with it, her heart rate jumped and she imagined it might be a feeling akin to the rush of taking a hit of some kind of drug. Except this drug was life itself.
This time she held it, as the feeling of energy subsided, she felt very aware that she was holding an excess amount of Essentia within her. She held it for a little while and once she felt sure she could do it again, she let it go, and the Life Essence flooded out of her. An act which came with its own feeling that was a little odd, but not totally unpleasant, it was like a chill going down your spine but a good bit stronger than that.
She relaxed herself and concentrating once more she pulled in the Essentia, held it, and let it go again. She did this a few times over, each time holding the Essence for a different amount of time and trying to release the Essentia in a big rush and direct it out of one hand. It was a little harder to do than she thought it might be but she kept on at it and cycled through the absorbing, holding and releasing over and over until it started to become almost like second nature to her.
Magi Saga 1: Epic Calling Page 18
