The Channeler

by William Kline

  Tommy thought on that, and decided it sounded reasonable. His father had always been hot, and his mother had teased her husband that he had fire in his veins. Tommy decided that his father was probably fire-attuned, and he hoped that he was, as well – he could see a lot of ways that fire could be useful, but couldn’t see much application for the others. Evidently, he wasn’t alone in his thoughts – James raised his hand and asked, “But what good is something like earth or air magic?”

  Micah chuckled in response. “What good is air magic? Well, look, it’s all around you. You move through it. You need it to breath. What would happen if a mage was to cause the air to abandon you,” Micah asked, and suddenly the air in the room got extremely thin. Tommy gasped and found it hard to breathe in. In the space of seconds, his head started to swim and he felt dizzy. Then, suddenly there was a “whooshing noise, and Tommy found he could breathe again. He looked around, and found his classmates all gasping and panting from the experience. Micah, however, did not miss a beat and appeared not to notice their discomfort. “I personally believe that air magic is one of the most powerful elements, if not the single most powerful. But do not discount the others. You stand on the earth, and even the clothes you wear are made from fibers that come from the earth. Your body is over half water, and your brain is seventy-percent water. Many novices think only of the destructive power of fire, and while this is true, it is simply not the only application of fire. Fire is the application of energy, so consider things like electricity – the very stuff that is powering the lights in this room is generated using fire magic.”

  “Instead”, Micah continued, “It might be helpful to think of the elements in a different way. Earth magic deals with solids, water magic deals with liquids, air with gasses, and fire with energy. Thinking about it that way, you can see more applications for each element. Only, we still refer to them by their classical names.” Micah gave them a wry grin. “After all, who would want to say, ‘I am a gas mage’, or ‘I’m a master of the gas?’” The whole class, Tommy included, laughed at that, and Ryan actually laughed so hard he snorted, which set everyone off giggling again.

  After the levity subsided, Micah said they were going to move on to practice time. He spent some time going over everything again, even though they had heard it all several times before. Tommy sat back in his chair and tried to remember the tips that Ryan had given him, as well as everything Micah had taught them. At first, it had gone like every time before – Tommy got into a nice, relaxed state of mind where he could feel the energy floating around him. But every time he focused enough to reach out and touch it, he lost the relaxed state of mind and therefore lost touch with the energy.

  Tommy decided that he’d try some of Ryan’s suggestions. First, he tried to empty his mind. He had read a book on meditation once, and this was very similar – he simply tried to think about nothing at all, to calm the normally rampant thoughts that surged through his mind. Then, when he felt very calm and at peace, he could feel the energy all around him. This time, instead of trying to reach out and touch it, he tried to relax more – to simply allow himself to relax so much that his mind and his being flowed out and merged with the energy around him.

  For several long minutes, nothing at all happened and it occurred to Tommy for a moment that Ryan might have been shining him on – it would fit with Ryan’s general sense of humor, or lack thereof. Tommy pushed the annoying and distracting thoughts aside, since they would serve no purpose but to distract him. He calmed himself again, relaxed, let his consciousness expand beyond his body… And suddenly, his entire being was suffused with an immense energy. It reminded him of a time when he and some friends had stayed up all night drinking highly caffeinated and sugared energy drinks. He had that same tingly, excited, energy filled feeling all over his body, but at the same time he could feel that his body was still sitting passively. It was a unique feeling, not unpleasant, but certainly unaccustomed.

  The energy continued to build and intensify, almost to the point of being uncomfortable. Suddenly, Tommy felt like he was going to explode, and the energy burst free from him in a torrent. It felt like he was trying to control a fire hose – the energy flowed out of him in a wild, uncontrollable stream that whipped around the room. Except, Tommy WAS the fire hose – he could feel the energy pouring into him, concentrating, flowing through him, and then shooting out in a stream. Tommy began to panic – he couldn’t control the energy that was coursing through him, and neither could he stop it or slow it – quite to the contrary, Tommy felt like it was flowing faster and getting stronger the longer he held it.

  Tommy opened his mouth to scream… when suddenly, he felt as if the fire hose was seized in a massive, iron grip. No longer flailing around, Tommy regained some sense of control, and his panic began to subside. When it did, Tommy recognized the force that was holding him steady – it was Micah, and he could sense the teacher’s presence containing the energy and controlling it. It was then that Tommy realized just how strong the man was – if the flow of energy through him was a fire hose, then the man holding it was a gigantic mountain, vast, strong, and immovable. With Micah steadying him, Tommy was able to slowly choke back on the flow. The stream of energy narrowed and thinned, slowed to a trickle, and then stopped altogether.

  Tommy opened his eyes. He was sprawled on the floor, his desk and chair knocked askew and his papers scattered. Micah was kneeling over him, and the older man’s eyes showed concern but there was a soft smile on his face. Micah extended a hand, and Tommy took it and let his teacher help him to his feet. A wave of dizziness hit Tommy, and he might have fallen had Micah not been there to steady him. Tommy looked around the room – his classmates were all looking at him with a mixture of surprise and pity. James stepped over and righted Tommy’s chair, and he fell into it gratefully.

  He was feeling very confused. This hadn’t happened to Ryan when he successfully reached the magic, but Tommy found himself suddenly too tired to sort it out. All he could manage was a feeble, “Wha…?”

  Micah set his desk back upright in front of him, but then turned and strode toward the head of the class, leaving Tommy’s papers on the floor. Some of Tommy’s surrounding classmates bent to gather them up and place them back on his desk, and he nodded to them thankfully. When he reached the front of the classroom, Micah turned to regard the class.

  “It appears,” he said with a serious voice that belied the smile on his face, “that our friend Tommy is a Channeler. You have my apologies, Tommy – I had my suspicions, but until this very moment, I wasn’t sure.”

  Tommy was no less confused, and he looked around – the pity on the faces of all his classmates had been replaced with a look of respect.

  Chapter Twelve

  In the days that followed, Tommy started to feel more alone. Mae and Stephen had moved up to a higher-level class, and their schedules were different than his. Tommy had become somewhat of a celebrity since word of his abilities had gotten around, and that had made Ryan increasingly acerbic. Even James had been somewhat distant; he still had not managed to touch the magic, while the rest of the class could almost do it at will. James’ failure to keep up with the rest of the class had become somewhat telling, and he had withdrawn inward, spending much of his time trying to practice his abilities. Tommy had tried to tell him that he was trying too hard, that it would come easier if he could just relax and let it happen, but James seemed almost… spacey… when Tommy tried to talk to him, and Tommy was sure that his words weren’t really getting through to the older boy. More than not, Tommy ate his meals alone, or sat with Mary, who had not passed her advancement test and had been left behind by Stephen and Mae.

  Even with Mary for company, though, Tommy was often lonely. Mary often didn’t want to talk, and frequently studied or worked on homework while she ate. Tommy sensed that she felt the sting of having been left behind, and was spending her every waking moment trying to catch up. At first, he tried to talk her out of it – there was no pre
ssure at the school and each student was allowed to move at his or her own pace. Then he remembered how he had felt every time Ryan had surpassed him at something, and decided to keep his mouth shut. Tommy even tried to help her, tried to ask questions about the test she had failed and how he might help her study for it, but Mary rebuffed his efforts and told him that it she wasn’t allowed to discuss the details of the testing with someone who had not undergone it.

  All in all, Tommy thought that it was a pretty good life despite his growing loneliness and depression, and the days slipped by him in a blur.

  Thus, it was several weeks later that Tommy found himself sitting alone at a table in the dining hall, feeling totally and completely sorry for himself. It was a “visiting day” for the students – the first ever visiting day for many of them – where the student’s families were permitted to come to the school and spend the afternoon and evening with their loved ones. There were only a handful of other students in the dining hall – James was one of them, but he was sitting across the hall with his parents, and looked to be getting a stern lecture from his father – he was shaking his finger at James, who had his head down almost on the table. The scene made Tommy feel a little sick to his stomach. He would give just about anything to get a visit from his parents, and here James’ parents were wasting the opportunity. After watching for a few minutes, Tommy packed up his tray and left the dining room.

  He had no classes or assignments that night – everyone had gotten most of the day off for visiting day – so he let his feet wander. He briefly considered sneaking back to his room and stealing James’ “Canadian Bacon” T-shirt – James wore the shirt all the time, despite the fact that Tommy had told him it reminded him of his encounter with the greasy man named Jordan, the man that Micah had killed. It seemed like it had to be years ago, not just a couple of months, but the sight of the shirt still made Tommy’s throat clench, and he’d been trying to find a way to sneak it away. Ryan would probably be in the room with his parents, though, and would certainly tell James if Tommy tried to sneak into his things.

  Tommy’s wandering took him past several classrooms. Most of them were empty, but some had small gatherings of people sitting and talking, marveling over school work, or simply sitting and spending time together. This did nothing to improve Tommy’s mood, and eventually he found himself in the channeling room. The giant blue crystal that dominated the room towered over him, and Tommy felt the same sense of peace and awe that he always did in coming here.

  Tommy was way ahead on his channeling duties. Every mage that lived in the school was required to spend some time channeling magical energy into the giant crystal. This energy was used to power the school, maintain the illusions that hid the school from outsider eyes, and for a variety of other things that Tommy only half understood. Tommy’s great ability to channel gave him a distinct advantage over the other students, here – while most of them had to spend several hours every week to meet their requirements, Tommy could fulfill his in just a half an hour or so. And he was getting stronger – much stronger – very quickly.

  Despite not really needing to, Tommy decided that the calmness of channeling would help snap him out of his depression. He sat down on one of the padded benches, relaxed his mind, and opened himself to the power. Although it took him a few seconds to reach the right frame of mind, Tommy could reliably channel any time he wanted to, now. When he felt the flood of energy entered his body, Tommy directed it into the crystal.

  Although the energy coursing through Tommy felt massive, like a raging river, the crystal soaked up every drop of it as if Tommy was pouring water into a vast, deep hole. Every time he did this, it always felt to Tommy like if he could just channel enough energy, if he could just force enough power into the thing, that he could fill it up. Of course, it never did, and Tommy knew that stronger people than him had tried. Still, he channeled as much energy as he could, straining to pull more and more. He could almost feel his ability gradually getting stronger, bit by bit, the more he tried and the longer he channeled.

  After about twenty minutes, though, he could take no more. He lost touch with the power and his body slumped on the bench. Channeling was physically taxing, particularly for someone as new to it as Tommy, and he became tired rather quickly. Micah had told them that they would grow more accustomed to it – that their stamina from channeling would increase with their strength the more they practiced. He had likened it to muscles that were getting a workout, and gradually built strength and endurance the more they were used. Only, the muscle was in their minds, and it was one that they had never used before, so it took quite a lot of working out to build it up.

  Tommy picked himself up off the bench and stretched. He was well and truly tired now, and he was sure that he could go straight to sleep, even if Ryan or James was still awake in the room. He was sure that one or both of them would be – it will still fairly early, and visiting day lasted for several hours, yet. He made his way slowly through the hallways back to his room, not dawdling, but in no particular hurry, either. It felt good to Tommy to slow down and take his time for once. Normally, things were rather hectic around the school, and it was a rare chance that Tommy got to take a walk without having the hustle.

  So it was that when Tommy arrived in his room almost a quarter of an hour later, lost in his own thoughts, he was completely surprised to find Micah himself sitting cross-legged on the empty bunk across from Tommy’s. Tommy saw that he had a huge, goofy grin on his face, and in his surprise, it took Tommy a few moments to process the fact that sitting there, on his bed, talking with Micah, were Tommy’s parents.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Tommy let out a cry of joy and ran to his parents, almost knocking them both over backwards onto the bed in his haste. Laughing, he wrapped one arm around each of them and hugged them tight as his laughter wound down and turned into sobs. He slowly sank until he was kneeling on the floor, one arm around the waist of each of his parents, and his mother softly stroked his hair as he knelt there, holding them and crying.

  It was some time later when Tommy finally raised his head and looked around. Sometime during his fit of tears, Micah had stood and let himself out of the room. Tommy was alone with his parents. Slowly, he stood, still sniffing, and wiped the tears from his eyes. Sitting back on his bunk, Tommy noticed that both his mother and father had tears dripping down their cheeks, as well, and the three of them spend a moment putting themselves together.

  Finally, Tommy’s dad favored him with a grin and said, “So… how’s it going, son?”

  Tommy couldn’t help but grin. It was almost like old times. “I’m doing really good, Dad. I’m working hard and learning a lot. I think you’d be proud of me.”

  Tommy’s father reached out to him. “Oh, son, I’ve always been proud of you. Come here,” and with that his father pulled him into a tight hug that set off another bout of tears in all of them.

  Eventually, Tommy found the presence of mind to ask, “I don’t understand. How are you here? Micah said you wouldn’t understa… That is, I thought I’d never see you again.”

  It was Tommy’s mother who answered. “Well, we didn’t, at first. My god, Tommy, we were so worried about you. When you didn’t come home, we were in a panic. We called the police, the local news stations, the school… everyone we could think of. Then, an old woman who lives near the school reported that she’d seen you walking down the railroad tracks. When it came out that there had been a mage battle and people killed right near where you had been walking…. Well, we feared the worst, and then a man from the federal government came around asking all kinds of questions about you. He told us the most horrible things about that man Micah, called him an international terrorist…”

  Tommy interrupted her. “It’s not true! Micah isn’t a terrorist! He helps kids!”

  Tommy’s father patted him on the hand. “We know that. Now, we do, at least. How were we to know what to think, with the government and the news stations and everyon
e else telling us all these things about him?”

  “Yes, everyone was telling us all kinds of stories. I’ll be honest, Tommy, we’d given in to despair. We thought for sure we’d lost you.” His mother began to sniffle and tear up again. “But then, just a few days later, a man showed up at our front door. He told us that he had information on you, and said that you were alive and safe. Your father threw him out.”

  “Dad?! You didn’t?!” Tommy said incredulously, but his father just shrugged and held his hands out in a gesture of helplessness.

  “What was I to do, Tommy? At best, the man could have been a fraud, trying to capitalize on all the media attention. At worse… well, at worst he could have been exactly what he was.”

  Tommy struggled to put himself in his father’s shoes, and somehow couldn’t. The picture of Micah the evil terrorist was so incongruous with the person he knew that he just couldn’t make it fit.

  “Anyway,” his mother continued, “Your father and I talked about it for a few days. Eventually, we decided to talk to that man if he ever came back. We figured if he really was trying to scam us, he wouldn’t return after your father had thrown him out. And he did come back, about a week later. So, we sat down and talked to him.”

  His father picked up the story. “I’ll be honest, Tommy. We didn’t like the things he had to say. Everything we’d been taught all along said that… people like him… were evil. It was hard to hear that our own son had been taken away somewhere to learn how to be like him, and that there was nothing we could do about it. But he was so damned… patient. He sat calmly while I shouted at him. He answered our questions calmly. He seemed to have a good answer ready at hand to every objection we could raise. He was just so… so… right.”

  “He came to visit us several times over the last few weeks, “ Tommy’s mother said, reaching up to stroke his hair. “He told us that you were doing well, gave us updates on your progress. He even told us you were enjoying your math class, which made me wonder if he’d gotten the wrong kid.” She ruffled his hair affectionately. “By the time he told us that we could come visit you, we were both ready to leap at the chance.”