A Deepening Knowledge (A Life of Magic)

by Matthew Mitchell

  This made sense. "But why does my magic work differently." I asked Stain.

  Stain nodded, "This is why people like Raven are called harmonic mages. She creates magic like a normal mage, but her magic only works with another mage. One that you harmonize with. Like Ott." He let that hang in the air.

  Raven and I looked at each other in amazement.

  "When Ott cast a spell near you, it causes your magic to harmonize. It allows his magic to effect you, like the glow spell." Stain seemed to be enjoying himself.

  "So I harmonize with Ott?" Raven asked, "What exactly does that mean?"

  Stain grinned. "Basically you both have the same energy. Your magic is the same."

  I thought about that. "Does that mean Raven has all four magics?"

  Stain nodded. "I believe it does. I can not check without you making the stones, as the spells inside the stones would not harmonize. But you could cast one of each spell family on her to see if it works or not."

  Raven's eyes grew wide. "I could have all four magics? I always thought I was a null. It is the reason things have gone so wrong before. I would have never thought I had magic." I could see tears rising in her eyes.

  I smiled. "Well let's find out!" I quickly cast a harmless water spell, one that would make all the water in Raven's body cool off just a hair.

  She shivered. "Stop that!"

  I stopped the spell and thought a moment. "I can not think of any wind or fire spells that are harmless."

  Raven seemed relieved, until Stain said, "Just reach out with your magic, like when you are filling up a gem. See if she can feel it."

  I focused and reached out with my fire magic, Raven started to fan herself and a blush spread to her cheeks.

  "I believe I can feel your fire magic." The blush grew worse.

  I stopped and grinned. I focused with my wind magic and reached out. Her cheeks suddenly stopped blushing and her hair seemed to waft around her slightly.

  She grinned, "Thanks, that feels much better."

  I stopped and looked at Stain. "Well I guess that answers that. She has all four magics."

  Stain hugged Raven and then looked around at all of us. "This stays with only the people in this room and Brooke. As she is your master she deserves to know."

  We all nodded.

  "Now, I believe that this little experiment is at an end. I would say it is about time for lunch. Shall we go and have some food?" Stain pulled his shield in and shut down the spells. "I believe we have earned a good repast." With that he walked out of the room.

  "I am starving. I will see you in there soon, right?" Pat flew after Stain.

  Mophar stayed on my shoulders. Fiosrach moved towards the doorway, "I am going to go sit in the sun and take a nap. I am feeling tired."

  Raven and I looked at each other. I grinned and sent a small tendril of wind magic across her.

  "Stop that!" She chuckled. "That is not fair."

  I nodded, "I guess we need to go eat."

  As I turned Raven put her arm through mine once again. "I am glad to know why I react to your magic. It was worrying me." We walked arm and arm through the doorway and off to lunch.

  * * *

  "Ott! Raven! Suzie!" Stain's voice carried through the entire warehouse. I could tell he was using magic to amplify his voice so he did not have to yell. I was working on charging gemstones with spells. I figured I needed the practice. I set aside the pouch of stones and stood up.

  "Do not forget me!" Mophar hopped down from the ceiling rafter. "I am your buddy from now on." He climbed my back and sat on my shoulders, his tail wrapping around my chest like a furry belt.

  "I could never forget you Mophar." I handed him a piece of fruit from the table and walked out of the room in search of Stain.

  "So what do you think he wants this time?" Suzie came around the corner heading right at me. She grabbed my arm and spun me around.

  "Woa!" Mophar held on tight, pulling a little hair. "Crazy river mage!"

  I snickered and nodded. "I have no clue. But I suggest we either find him or Raven." With that she hauled me down the hallway. We found Raven getting up from the lunch table.

  "I just finished a snack and he wants us again?" She sounded annoyed. "What is it going to be this time?" She picked up a few knives from the table and sheathed them.

  "No clue but I do know that if we do not get a move on we are going to have one annoyed mage on our hands." Suzie grinned as Raven grabbed my other arm. "Shall we go find him before he finds us?"

  We finally found Stain in one of the work rooms. He was sitting at a work bench surrounded by various herbalist tools.

  "Good! It is about time you three showed up." He turned around. I could suddenly feel a shield shoot out and surround the room. "Now that we have a little privacy I am going to discuss a few things." He motioned towards a few chairs, which we took. "Raven, I have talked to Brooke. She has agreed to a few things. One is that we share our new knowledge with young Suzie here. Her father agrees." With that he turned to Suzie and grinned. "Raven is a mage."

  Suzie's expression was very simply shock. "What?" She gasped. "What do you mean? I thought she was a null!"

  We all grinned at her reaction. "Well, I thought that also. Until I figured out she was a harmonic mage." Stain was enjoying himself.

  "A harmonic mage?" Suzie's shock was getting deeper. She turned to Raven and just stared. You could see the thoughts churning through her mind. Her head whipped around and she looked at me. "And she harmonizes with Ott." She whispered this last comment.

  Raven walked over to Suzie and hugged her. She whispered something in her ear. Suzie hugged her back. Stain watched all of this with a look of concern. I just sat here and tried to figure out what exactly was going on.

  "I am overheating up here." Mophar tugged on my hair.

  I smiled. "Sorry, I was trying to figure something out."

  "I could tell." Mophar's voice dripped sarcasm. "I think I smell a little smoke."

  I heard Raven snicker at Mophar's comment. I looked up and the girls were both watching me.

  Stain took a breath and stated, "With that in mind I felt it was appropriate that she has beast speech." He turned to the bench and retrieved a book. "This is for you Raven. It is a book I had on harmonic mages. I found it quite enlightening. I think you will enjoy it. Just be sure to return it when you are done and to ask questions if you have them." With that he shut down the shield. "Now onto more boring things. What you three will be doing for the remainder of our time here. Raven, Suzie, both of your masters have put you at my disposal to help with Ott's lessons and errands. Also we do not want to risk him being kidnapped again."

  "Our being there did not keep him safe last time." Raven pointed out.

  Stain nodded. "That is correct. However, you were unprepared." He picked up a few things from the table. Handing a set of knives to Raven. "These are null knives. They can be used against any mage no matter what shields he might have." He also handed Suzie a handful of papers and a few gems. "These are some water combat spells I believe you are missing. As far as the gems they are special. They will absorb any and all magic that is used on you." He handed a similar stack of papers to me. "These are the same spells and also the spell for gems that I gave Suzie. I expect you to make them yourself and give Raven a few so she has the same protections. If I made them they would not work as well."

  He stood up and moved around, rubbing his lower back. "So, I am not assigning Ott any specific things he must learn, however I do have specific activities I wish him to do. I expect you ladies to help." He turned to me. "There are mages here that we need to meet. These two lovely ladies will be going with us from now on to meet them. This should occur in the evenings." He turned to Suzie. "I believe you will gain a few more spells and maybe a few more friends."

  She grinned at that. "I have always wondered about the mages here in town. I have met a few but most keep their identities secret."

  Stain grinned. "That is true. Ho
wever I believe it is time for you to meet them." He turned to Raven. "Since you are what you are there is no need for spells for you. However, I believe that the knowledge of who is a mage can be very useful for you." He turned back to me. "Now that deals with the evenings. During the mornings I wish for you three to work on your various skills. Magic, weapons, herb-craft, whatever you need to keep your skills sharp. These workshops are at all of your disposals. There is one that is shielded for the more dangerous spells." He pointed towards one wall, "You will find it that way down the hall. Tonight the local weapons master, Sir William Mare, will be coming by to talk to us. He was trained by MaPaine."

  "Us?" Raven asked.

  "Yes, us. I believe his first passion was knives and bladed weapons. So I believe he can help you improve even your great skill." He looked to Suzie, "Your father desires you to gain more weapon experience after the kidnapping. So you will also be training with Raven and Ott."

  Suzie nodded, "Dad mentioned that this morning. I guess I will need more cream for bruises."

  Stain smiled, "Which brings us around to you Ott. I have a friend who is coming to teach you more about non-magical herb lore. She is the king's own herb master. She will be here in two days." His smile grew at my groan. "I do believe you will enjoy yourself. She has much knowledge that you will find interesting. She is also to teach you the darker aspects of herb lore, poisons if you will." I sat up straighter at that. "I believe we have been involved in a war we were not aware of until the kidnapping. I thought it was a simply effort to use Ott for darker purposes, but the attacks that occurred after the kidnapping seems to show that someone is starting a war."

  We sat there for a moment and let that sink in.

  "Well, now that I have severely depressed all of you, we are going to our first meeting with a few mages this afternoon. I want all of you armed and ready to fight if it comes to it." Stain stood up. "Ott, do those gems for you and Raven before you do anything else. Suzie, you will need your spell book." He walked to the door. "I want to meet in the dining area in about an hour." With that he walked out.

  I looked at each girl. "Well, I guess we know what our days will be like for a while."

  Raven smiled. "I think you might have more work than us two. Magic, weapons, herb lore, plus whatever more your master can find to keep you busy."

  Suzie grinned. "I am just glad I only have to worry about water magic. Good luck with the rest of it Ott." With that she stood up and walked out.

  Raven and I sat there watching her leave. "So what did you say to her?" Mophar pipped up.

  Raven's head whipped around. "I am still not used to you talking." She chuckled to herself. "It was girl talk, nothing you need to worry your fluffy tail about." She looked at me. "Do you need me here while you make those protection gems?"

  I thought for a moment. "I do not need you here, but you are welcome to stay if you want."

  I could tell she thought about it. "I have things to do before we leave, I will see you there." She walked out and I could hear her talking to herself.

  "Well that went well." Mophar hopped onto the table. "I do not see any gems here, what are you supposed to use to make these protection gems?"

  I looked around, "Well this looks like an herbal workroom. So perhaps there is a magic workroom nearby that has the gems there." Mophar hopped to the ground and we went in search of the workroom. We found it three doors down from the herbal workroom. There were bins of all sorts of rocks, gems, and crystals. A large table sat in the center of the room.

  "Looks like we might have found the place." Mophar looked into the bins. "Which gem do you need?"

  I pulled out the spell. I could actually use different stones, as long as they were not naturally stronger in any one family of magic. "I can use almost anything. As long as it is basically a neutral gem." I walked over to a few bins. "What color should I get for Raven?" I was wanting something that could be decorative as well as useful. She did not have enough pretty things, other than her knives.

  "What about red?" Mophar held up a dark red gem.

  "Not really what I was thinking." I looked into another bin. "Do you see anything that is purple?" I could see plenty of blues, greens, and yellows.

  Mophar climbed up a rack. "Here is some purple." He held up a lilac gem.

  I looked closely, "Are there any dark purple?"

  He put the gem back and dug in the bin. "Nope, all light colored." He looked in other bins.

  I walked across the room and dug through more bins. Even more blues, some reds, and even some black. I really thought purple would be nice, but it would have to be a dark purple.

  "Found something." Mophar held aloft a gem. It looked black, yet the light shimmering on it's edges was purple. He handed the gem to me.

  I looked closely and saw that the gem was a deep purple, almost black. Yet it was clear with no blemishes. "I do believe this will work. Are there any more?"

  Mophar reached into the bin and pulled out three more gems. "Is this enough?"

  "Could you get two more?" I wanted her to have enough.

  Mophar pulled out two more gems and handed all of them over. "Now what color do you want to use for your gems?" He stuck his head into another bin. "What about pink?" He held up a light pink gem.

  I smiled and shook my head. "I was thinking maybe a dark green." I looked into a big bin, it was full of light blue gems.

  Mophar nodded, "I saw some over in that bin." He pointed at one. "I wonder if they are dark enough."

  I pulled out a few gems. These green gems were almost as dark as the purple ones. They shimmered like a deep pool in the midst of the woods. "These will work great!" I put all the gems on the table. One pile of purple gems and one of green. I looked at the spell. It was pretty simple really. It absorbed any magic that was being cast on the person holding the gems and then dispersed it into the ground, water, or air. I picked up a green gem and focused, letting the spell form in my mind and forcing it into the gem. The gem soaked up my magic like dry ground soaks up a good rain after a hot summer. The spell seemed to settle deep into the gem. I stopped and looked into the gem. I could see the spell resting there, ready to redirect any magic it needed to.

  Mophar approached. "So, did it work?" He looked at the gem. "It looks the same."

  I smiled. "Shall we check?" I handed the gem to him and cast the glow spell on him. I watched the magic flow out and sink into his fur, then suddenly it was sucked into the gem. "I believe it is working."

  He looked at me. "You cast a spell on me?"

  I grinned. "The glow spell, I could see the magic soak into the gem and you did not glow. So I guess it works." I picked up another gem, purple this time. "I need to get this done." I spent the next bit of time enchanting each gem and testing it on Mophar. A few failed to work correctly. Those I looked at closer and found small cracks in their structure. Mophar grabbed a few more from the bins to replace the defective ones. By the time I was done enchanting all five gems for both Raven and myself it was almost time to meet everyone. "Well, that is done. Shall we go meet up?" I put each pile of gems into a pouch, which I found in yet another bin. They even had a black pouch that had purple stitching for Raven's gems. I picked a green bag with black stitching for my gems.

  "Let's go Ott." Mophar stated as he climbed to my shoulders. "My eyes are starting to cross from staring at those gems."

  We set out towards the dining area. I grinned thinking that Raven would be surprised by my choice of gems and pouch.

  * * *

  "Well it is nice of you to join us." Suzie's voice brought me to my senses.

  I had walked to the dining area without conscious thought. Being lost in my own mind for a bit. I looked around and realized I was the last to arrive. Suzie, Stain, Pat, and Raven were sitting at the table waiting on me. I grinned. "Well I was busy trying to get these gems enchanted." I held up both pouches.

  Stain grinned. "And how did that go?" He stood up and looked into the green pouch. I could tell he
was looking at the spells in each gem.

  I nodded, "I had a few problems. Some of the gems were flawed and would not take the spell."

  "How did you test them?" This from Raven.

  I handed her the pouch full of purple gems. "I had Mophar hold each one and cast the glow spell on him. If he glowed the gem failed."

  "I only glowed a few times. What a weird sensation to be glowing." Mophar hopped down on the table. "You should be looking in that pouch. Ott was quite picky about what gems to use for your protection." He had a sneaky smile.

  Raven blushed but opened the pouch. Her expression grew slightly surprised as she pulled out one of the gems. "Black? I would not have thought about that."

  Suzie looked at the gem and smiled. "Those are not black. Hold it to the light."

  Raven looked at her in confusion yet held the gem up to the light. A burst of purple light shined upon her face from the gem. "Purple? Oh my goodness." Her blush grew much worse.

  Stain grinned. "I would say that was a good choice young Ott." His grin grew sneaky. "Let's see how well your work performs." I could feel a sudden swell of magic and sparks shot out from Stain and flew at Raven. She gasped and then cringed as each spark sank into the gem. "Well that worked correctly. If it had failed then her knives would have turned into dust." He turned to me. "I am proud. Not only did you do what I told you to do, you made sure that what you did was done well. I hope you continue to do so in all of your work."

  Raven tucked the gem back into the pouch and slipped the pouch into a pocket. "Can I mount any of the gems in settings?"

  Stain nodded as he held up one of my gems. "If it is against your skin it will work better, but as long as it is on your person it will be fine. I would suggest silver for the setting. I believe Cracklecord would be willing to help make any settings you might want." He handed me the pouch of green gems. "Ott I would suggest each of you get at least one of these gems mounted in some form of amulet. Also consider putting one in a ring, if any are small enough." He stood up and motioned to all of us. "Well now that is dealt with I suggest we head out to meet our mage friends." He led the way through the warehouse and out onto the docks.