The Wandering Apprentice

by Matthew Mitchell

  Stain blushed, "Pat, I did not realize you knew that. Not many people outside of the royal court know that."

  Cracklecord laughed at Stain's embarrassment.

  "The King's High Mage? That sounds like a title." I was struggling here.

  Stain took a deep breath. "Who is the King Ott?"

  "He is the person in charge of the country." I figured everyone knew that.

  Stain sighed. "No, I mean who is he really?"

  Ok. I thought about that one. "He's a single man who has the responsibility to take care of this country and her people." That sounded good to me.

  "And how does he do that?" Stain asked.

  "He makes rules, appoints people to enforce those rules, and protects us from invaders." Again, sounded good to me.

  "So how does he know what rules need to be made, who to appoint, and what to do to protect us?" Stain was starting to annoy me.

  "He is the king. I am only a humble apprentice. I have no idea." Not so good, but the truth.

  Stain looked at me for a second, "Well, the king has advisors who help him do those things. Some provide information, some wisdom, and some provide frustration. I am one of those advisors. However I am unique. I am the only one of the king's advisors who also works with a second and third group of people. This is the King's Royal Artificers. They include people who design and make things for the king and kingdom. Magic can be used to make things so we count it as one of the Artificer Arts. The third group of people is the Arms. They are the force of the Kingdom. They include the fighters, enforcers, and spies. Since magic can also be used for all this also I work with them. There are other mages who work in each group but I am the only one who works with all three."

  I considered what Stain had said. Only one question came to mind. "Why only you?"

  Stain hesitated, "Why only me what?"

  "Why are you the only one who works with all three?" I think that was clear enough.

  "That sounds like a good place to begin your magic education." He took a second to compose himself. "All mages, human or otherwise, follow certain rules. The only exceptions are the Farie. For now we will focus on the rest. The Farie are for later. Now, all mages follow certain rules. These are part of who we are. First, each mage has a main affinity for at least one family of magic. Second, each mage has a second affinity, usually of a lesser extent, to at least one other magic. These first two rules shows why Cracklecord is strong in fire and weaker in earth. Her main affinity is fire. Her secondary affinity is to earth. There are also a few more rules. The third rule is that if a mage does not have an affinity for a specific family of magic it becomes one of two types. Either an opposer or a null. An opposer is one that works against the mages main affinity magic. Much like water does for Cracklecord and earth does for Pat. Not only can they not use magic of those types but it actively opposes them. Remember the water gem from last night and how it attempted to move away from Cracklecord. A null is a magic that has no magical effect on the mage. I believe air is a null for Cracklecord."

  "It is Stain. How did you figure that out?" Cracklecord had sat up a little straighter.

  "It is a usual situation. Most mages who have a strong affinity for Fire find that air is either a secondary affinity or a null." He turned back to me. "Now, if a family of magic is a null that does not mean it has no effect on a mage. It simply means that direct spells or energy of that family will not do anything to the mage. Cracklecord could have an air mage throw every spell he knows at her and she would not have to do a thing. The magic would simply pass over her. However if he effects the world around her the effects would touch her. For example, if he turned the air to poison the poison would hurt her." Stain stopped and looked at me. "Do you understand all of this?"

  "I believe so. So if a mage has a high affinity for water, a low affinity for earth, an opposer for fire, and a null for air then he could stand all day against the air mage?" I thought I understand.

  "That is basically correct. The only problem is if the air mage has an low affinity for water or earth, although it is usually water. Then the mage could draw upon the water magic mix it with air magic and possibly harm the water mage. Make sense?" Stain was definitely a good teacher.

  "So the mage's combination of magic affinities determines how magic affects him?" That sounded reasonable.

  "Correct. Now, here is the fun part. A mage may have more than one strong affinity and more than one lesser affinity. Not all mages have opposers or nulls." He pointed out.

  "Like us? We both have an affinity for all four families of magic." I said.

  "That is right. However, to have two strong affinities is unusual but not unheard of, to have three strong affinities is rare but it occurs every few years, now to have all four is so rare that it only occurs every few hundred years." He paused to let that all sink in.

  "Is there normal patterns that occur with affinities, opposers, and nulls?" I wondered.

  "Yes actually. I have studied mages for years and have found that there are patterns. Now there are exceptions, usually explained by families of different lines merging, but on the whole there is a set pattern that occurs. Most earth mage's also can do water magic. Those that do not can do fire magic. If the earth mage does water magic then his null is usually fire, the opposite is true. Air is usually the opposite for an earth mage. Most of the families work this way. It gets a little trickier when someone has a strong affinity for two or more families. The easiest to understand are the mages like us, those who has a strong affinity for all four families. They have no opposer or null." He smiled then. "What does that mean for us as far as magic goes?"

  I thought about everything he had said. "Well, I would say that we can use all four magic’s probably fairly equally but that all four magic’s can affect us equally."

  "Very good. That is the double-edged sword with mages like us. Not only can we use all four magic’s but we can be harmed directly by all four magic’s. This brings us to why we need to stay here. We will have two more lectures and then some application."

  He stood up and moved away from the fire. "Cracklecord, Pat. Could you both join me over here." He motioned to the ground to either side of him.

  "Ok, the first lecture. What is magic?" He stared at me while Pat and Cracklecord moved to stand beside him. They both looked at me with smirks, like they knew the answer and did not think I would find it.

  "Well, I do not know exactly. I would say that since it seems to be passed down though families then it has to be an innate ability." I answered.

  "That is the ability to work magic, what makes a mage. What is actual magic?" He clarified his question there.

  "Ok. Well if someone has an ability then it allows them to do something. So magic is the doing." I was struggling here, "Is it the result of a mage using his ability?"

  "Yes. Very good. Magic is the result of a mage using energy through his abilities to do something. Now here is the fun part. How does he do that?" Stain seemed wary of my answer, as if he was used to getting the wrong one.

  "I would guess that he uses spells to control that energy but if that was the case how do enchanted items work?" Everyone had heard stories of enchanted swords and other items.

  "Ah, then you have stumbled upon a question that often is asked. Yes, a mage uses spells to control that energy, but they only help to focus the energy. They have nothing to do with the actual task. It is like if you wanted to make a pot out of clay. How do you do that?" Stain had lost that wariness

  Ok, a pot. "Well you need clay, then you have to form the shape, then you dry it and fire it. That is really it."

  "That is the least amount of effort to make a pot. Now will that produce a nice pot? One that is pretty, holds water well, or withstand lot's of heat?" Stain prodded.

  "Well not really. To make a really nice pot you need more. Most people use a wheel, tools, glazes, and kilns." I had watched the potter in Sunnydale enough to realize how he made things.

  "That is correct. And
mages do the same thing. We use spells, objects, and other things to help to make better magic. A mage can make magic without anything but his mind. However the same things that apply to the potter apply to the mage. Skill, training, knowledge, tools used, quality of tools and materials, whatever makes a difference in the end product. Make sense?"

  "Sure, you're saying that a mage can do something with only his mind but using stuff to do it makes it work better." My head was starting to hurt.

  "So here is the answer, which I think you understand. Magic is the energy that a mage can control to do something. Now let’s do something, as you put it." A bubble seemed to appear around Stain. "This is a shield. I made it out of water magic." He stood there and the shield seemed to swirl around him like mist. "I made this using the skill and knowledge that is mine. Nothing else is needed. Cracklecord, could you make a shield of fire?" A red and yellow bubble seemed to flow out from Cracklecord. It surrounded her completely. "Pat, could you also make a shield, one out of air?" A white, wispy bubble formed around Pat.

  "Shields are the first thing all mages learn. Can you imagine why?" He gently asked.

  "Probably the same reason dad taught me to protect myself when staff fighting. Defense is an important skill to learn." I remembered that. I was sore for weeks.

  "Yes and no. A mage learns to shield for defense but also because you will be handling magic and we do not want you to get hurt. A shield protects the mage from his own magic blowing up in his face." He grinned. "There were a few times that a shield saved one of my apprentices life."

  "Anybody ever get hurt?" I had not realized that just learning magic was dangerous.

  "Nobody permanently, usually just burnt eyebrows and bruised egos." He chuckled. "They were usually more upset about the egos than the eyebrows. But they all learned. I have never had an apprentice not learn how to shield. Let me explain what a shield is. A shield is magical energy formed by the desire for safety into a physical and magical barrier between your body and everything else. You have to take your desire to be safe, use the magical energy, and form the shield. Now, a mage can only make a shield with the family they can use. Cracklecord can make a shield of fire and earth."

  Her shield took on some brown and grey tones, like dirt and metal.

  "Pat is able to make his shield out of water and air."

  Pat's shield changed to what looked like a cloud. A sphere of blue and white swirled together.

  "Now, my shield can take on all families of magic." Suddenly his shield swirled with reds, blues, browns, and whites. It reminded me of paints my aunt used to paint baskets, especially when I spilled them together.

  "My shield is able to mix all the magic’s. You should be able to do this eventually. However, let’s start with just one magic." Suddenly all their shields seemed to shrink into their bodies.

  Pat and Cracklecord walked back to the fire. Stain went to his tent and carried out the small chest from the night before. My nerves started to jump.

  "Let's do some testing then you can start learning to shield." He pulled out the gems from the night before. "This will be a little like last night except we will be doing specific things. I know more now and there should not be any danger." He set the gems on top of the chest. "We know what magic energy you can access. Now let’s see how strong you are in each."

  "I thought I was equally strong in all of them?" Did he not say that?

  "I was talking about ability to use the magic. A strong affinity means using that magic is easy, a weaker affinity means you can use it but it is harder, an opposite fights being used, and a null does not react at all. Now strength is a whole different aspect. You can have a strong affinity but not much strength. Pat falls in this category. He has a strong affinity to air but not much strength. That is what puts him in the hedge mage category. We need to see how strong you are. You have the ability to use all the magic’s but you might not have the same strength in each one. That will decide what magic’s you can do in each family."

  He motioned to the gems. "Now, last night I had you focus on one gem at a time. That enabled your energy to caress the gem and they reacted by rising to your hand. Now what I want you to do is to simply focus on all the gems at once. What we should see is that the gems should all rise. They will rise and the higher the gem the more strength you have in that family. Normally they do not get higher than the person doing the test. Just focus on all the gems."

  I looked at the gems, "So I do not have to stick out my hand?"

  "Nope, just focus on all the gems." Stain smiled. I heard Pat snicker.

  I looked at the gems and focused on the gems. Trying to focus on all four gems at once was complicated.

  "Focus Ott! If you do not focus on all four at the same time then it will not tell us what we need." Stain startled me.

  I shook my head and refocused. I had been trying to focus my eyes on all the gems, this time I worried about focusing my mind on the gems and did not worry about what I was looking at.

  I heard Pat and Cracklecord both talking behind me. Stain was sitting quietly. There was still a fire burning in the fire pit. I focused on the gems in my mind, I could see them in my mind. The depths of each gem seemed to sparkle with an inner fire. The surfaces were smooth but not bare. Each gem had a feel, not a texture but a feel to it.

  "Good job Ott. You can quit now. I have locked the gems in their locations." Stain sounded odd, a slight strain in his voice.

  I looked down at the chest. The gems were not there. Right, they were supposed to rise. I looked in front of me. No gems. Stain was across from me, looking at me. He looked up. I looked up. The gems floated just above my height. All four gems. Even to each other.

  "Did I mess up?" I started to worry. Maybe I did not do it right.

  "No. I was observing you. You did exactly what you were supposed to do. I think the test worked correctly." He looked at me and smiled. "Well, I would not have believed it if someone had told me but you just might be the strongest mage I have ever heard of."

  Pat and Cracklecord came around me and looked at the gems.

  "Wow! I have never seen anyone have all the gems at the same levels. And never more than one gem at the same height." Cracklecord was awestruck.

  "Now that is the Ott I know. Way to go." Pat seemed proud.

  "What does this mean?" Ok. Strong magic. What does that mean?

  "Well Ott, I think it means that once you gain control, knowledge, and skill there will not be much magic that you cannot do." Stain was a little breathless. "I think that we have all had enough excitement. I believe that it is about time to prepare food for lunch." He motioned to the gems and they floated down to the chest. He put them away and took the chest to his tent.

  I looked at the sun and realized that it was near midday.

  "Let's get some food in all of us. Then we can begin to work on shields." Stain started to gather supplies. "Ott come help me cook."

  Time to eat I guess.

  ***

  "You have to focus Ott. If you do not focus nothing will happen." Stain had been telling me the same basic thing for the last couple of hours. Lunch was a distant memory. "I want you to focus on pushing out your energy to form a shield. Imagine a shield of earth around you."

  I had been trying to build a shield since lunch. So far I had failed to form any kind of shield. I had not even felt like I had touched something that could be called 'magic'.

  "Ott, you are focusing on what you think. You need to focus on what you feel." Stain had tried to explain this principle to me all afternoon. Nothing had helped yet.

  "Hey. Maybe I could help?" Pat offered. "I have known Ott all his life. I understand how he thinks. Perhaps it might make a difference." He climbed down from the limb where he had been perching.

  "Be my guest. Perhaps you can offer a new insight." Stain walked over and sat down by the fire.

  Pat came and sat in front of me. "Let's try this again. Close your eyes."

  I took a deep breath and closed
my eyes. The sounds of the forest stood out much sharper. "Now what?"

  "What do you feel?" Pat sounded very calm.

  "Frustrated. Annoyed." Yeah, very.

  "Ok. You cannot build a shield while annoyed." Pat said sarcastically. "Magic flows from how you feel not what you think. What you think forms the magic into the effect."

  "That makes sense but what do I need to feel so that I can do magic." This all made sense but I still did not get it totally.

  "You have to feel a strong emotion. For a shield most magicians use the feeling of fear to generate the magic. I personally use the fear of falling from the sky." His voice sounded slightly dry.

  "So to do magic I need to feel something strongly?" That did not sound right. All the stories about magic users described them as calm people, not people of strong emotion. "That does not sound right, the stories always make mages sound calm not emotional."

  "Just because they are calm on the outside does not mean they do not feel anything." Pat pointed out. "And having strong emotions does not mean they had uncontrolled emotions."

  Ok. That made more sense. "So I need to feel an emotion strongly but not uncontrolled?" I think I can do that.

  "Yep. Try using a memory to stimulate fear. Think about some time that you felt fear. Do not see the memory, feel it." He made it sound easy.

  I stopped and thought about times that I had felt fear. There were not many times. Once I fell out of a tree, that scared me pretty bad. Then once I got trapped in a cave. But the most fear I had felt was the day our cabin was attacked. I had thought my father was dead. I could practically taste the fear.

  "Do you have some memory that you can use?" Pat asked.

  "Yes. I'm pretty sure that I have a memory that stimulates fear." Yeah, a ton of fear.

  "Then think about what you want to happen, the change that you want to occur in the world around you. Think of a shield of earth surrounding you. Something that will block out everything." Pat talked gently but firmly.

  I focused on wanting a shield of earth around me. The fear seemed to flow around me. I felt a tug in my stomach, a gentle pressure just behind my belly button.