Chapter Fourteen: Currents


Gaishan sat across from Cammie, his eyes locked on hers. The two sat on the edge of the Fenral, the forest they had been traveling in according to Calidar. The Fenral was gigantic, the diel had explained, even in a world such as Gaia where nature was barely disrupted by the presence of the diel. Two other large diel communities, each a half to a third the size of Undrial, were scattered along the boarders of the forests, as were countless other smaller locations. Seated comfortably, Gaishan was speaking firmly to Cammie as the rising sun set the horizon on fire behind him, “Channeling the flows cannot be done through force of will alone; we Magi do not have the predetermined forms to control the Magic that way. Were you to try a channeling of any complexity that way you would almost surely lose control of the Magic and would start an uncontrolled release of the flows. If that happens I wouldn’t count on surviving whatever forces you release, and you’d probably kill anyone around you as well. We have to be more subtle in our manipulations, suggest what you need to the flows instead of demanding for it, and give them a subtle push in the right direction. With sufficient desire and control the Magic will perform as you wish.”

Cammie’s eyes widened at the implication in Gaishan’s words, “I can do anything with the Magic? There are no limits?”

Gaishan began to give a nod but seemed to think better of it. Instead, he replied, “In a way, there is no limit to what Magic can do, it is our own concentration and desire that limits us. Some channels are easy, such as the one that is allowing us to understand each other without thinking of it, despite our differing heritages; almost any diel is capable of it. The difficulty of opening and maintaining channels is mainly reliant on the complexity of the desired result as well as the magnitude of the effect the channel will create. Also, since we as Magi do not have any special affinity to one aspect of the Magic, we must focus that much harder to make it do what we wish, though with the added benefit of having more control over what we create. It is difficult to explain in words, the best way to understand is to feel it in a controlled environment such as this one. Go ahead; see if you can do anything.”

Cammie’s eyes narrowed as she focused her thoughts. Slowly, her eyes began to shift, waves of brilliant sky blue washing over them, interspaced with smaller clouds of a darker shade. Gaishan’s ever present grin widened as he felt a sudden breeze manifest, shifting his long white hair. Calling his Magical sight, Gaishan gazed at the sparkling flows of Magic that were being pulled from the air to twirl around the body of the young woman in front of him. Shaking his head, Gaishan spoke softly so as to not completely distract Cammie, “You’re forcing it, you demanding that the Magic do what you want instead of simply directing it that way. Magic wants to go along the easiest path. You must make your channel that path. Focus on opening your channel first, let the Magic enter it, and then make your suggestions.”

As her concentration deepened, Cammie’s own hair began to stand on end as though held by invisible threads. Gaishan could see the flows around Cammie increase in size and number, their whirling intensifying as the breeze grew stronger. Then, accompanied by Cammie’s startled yelp, the twirling flows seem to erupt outward, blasting the immediate area with a gale force wind, tossing up dirt and debris and causing even the trees to lean against the sudden onslaught. Gaishan leaned into the wind, blinded by his robe as the wind whipped it around his face and body. Cammie sat frightfully in the middle of the windstorm, seeing the flows from the sky continue to be drawn to her only to blast out. Cammie struggled to bring the Magic back to control, mentally grasping the flows as a sailor might combat the riggings of his ship. Just as the young woman felt as though the Magic was about to totally break loose, she felt a sudden burst of energy from Gaishan which sliced through the Magic and caused the storm and the flows to fade. Taking a deep breath, Cammie lowered her head, “Sorry.”

Gaishan struggled for a moment to remove the folds of his robe that had fallen over his face. Successful, Gaishan’s grin softened a bit into more of a comforting smile, “Don’t apologize, it will happen more than you like in the beginning. You did the right thing by trying to bring the flows back under control; if you had released them the effect would have been much fiercer. That is why I am here, to make sure you survive long enough to gain control.”

Cammie gave a half-smile, “Self-control isn’t my strongest trait…I’ll work on it though.”

Standing, Gaishan turned to look down the small path that exited the forest, meandering lazily toward the mountains the dominated the horizon, “You can practice without me for a while then, I need to see what I can discern on the path ahead. With luck we should reach our destination late tomorrow or early the day after. Don’t try anything too large while I’m gone.”

As the mage made his way back to their campsite, where the trees were thicker than the sparse vegetation on the edge on the Fenral, Cammie began to focus again. This time the soil and stones in front of her began to tremble softly as a deep, earthy brown made its way across Cammie’s eyes. Cammie could feel the flows of Magic from the earth entering her, entwining with her own personal flows. Silently she nudged the flows, shifting them ever so slightly toward one of flows of water that crisscrossed the ground like veins. With a soft squelching noise, the patch of earth Cammie was concentrating on softened and quickly turned to mud. With another mental push, Cammie nudged the flows closer once again and quickly realized that she had pushed too hard. With a loud slopping noise, the patch of mud exploded into a tiny geyser, splattering Cammie who immediately released the Magic. Quickly swiping the rapidly hardening earth from herself, Cammie muttered, “It’s all so delicate, it’s like trying to balance a coin on in edge.”

She cut off when she realized that someone was standing behind her. Turning she saw Caylen grinning down at her. With a grimace she poked him in the legs, “What are you smiling about?”

Caylen retreated a few steps before responding, “Seeing you sitting there quietly, concentrating as hard as you could….I was wondering if you were feeling alright”

Cammie leapt to her feet, fully intent on throttling Caylen. She stopped suddenly however, a worried look on her face, “All that concentration and I’m still fudging things. Gaishan’s been helping me a lot, especially just now, but most of the time when I try something I end up splattering something or setting something on fire.”

Caylen shrugged, “Maybe you’re trying too hard.”

Shaking her head, Cammie grimaced the earthen dust still in her hair rained down around her, “I have to focus, that’s what Gaishan’s been telling me during his lessons.”

Caylen shrugged, “Maybe you’re focusing on the wrong thing then?”

Cammie seemed to be formulating an answer but suddenly started and yelled past Caylen’s shoulder, “Stop doing that!”

Turning, Caylen saw Calidar standing a few yards behind him. Seeing Caylen’s raised eyebrows, Calidar gave an amused smile, his fangs shining, even as Cammie seemed ready to leap over Caylen to throttle him, “I forgot to phase in before approaching you.”

Having traveled with Calidar and Gaishan for several days now, Caylen was quickly understanding why they had been chosen. Gaishan had explained how he was using his Magic to hide them as best he could which seemed to have thrown off any pursuit that they had had. Add this protection to Calidar’s amazing ability to literally fade from existence in order to scout or stand guard and Caylen felt that he could almost relax. Almost. Barely a day ago Calidar had appeared in the middle of the night, waking them all and warning them to get under cover. As they lay quietly beneath the fallen trunk of what Gaishan had later identified as an Ironwood tree, some great beast had flown above them so quickly that Caylen barely had time to register leathery wings and grasping claws before it was gone. They had continued to hide for the rest of the night, catching what sleep they could in their cramped hiding place. The next day Gaishan had spoken to the humans, “What, or rather who, you saw last night is one of the single most dangerous diel in Gaia. His name is Vasilis, and his form is that of a Devourer. On his own he is capable of transforming into that thing you had a glance at last night. He is impossibly fast and viscous, more than a match for most any other diel in Gaia. Most horrifying of all though is that he is capable of using the abilities of others by consuming their essence, their soul and trapping it within himself. The souls degenerate as Vasilis uses them, but until they are completely used the torture they are forced to endure is said to be horrific. He didn’t sense you through my veils, it would require a tremendous amount of energy to do so and, while Vasilis may be strong enough to summon that power, he seemed to be focused on something else entirely”

Caylen had felt a chill climb up his spine, “He won’t be able to find us at all where we’re going right?

Doing what he could to brush the dirt and debris of a night spent in the brush off of his indigo robes, Gaishan had shrugged, “Oh, it’s possible that he could, but it would require even more effort on his pat. There is nowhere truly safe, remember that. Now come, it’s time to go.”



Back in the present however, Calidar’s expression continued to be amused as he spoke to Cammie, “I caught a few glimpses of what you were doing as I was walking around, don’t let Gaishan’s present ability get you down, he was blowing himself up and covering us in Gods know what for a long time before he found his control too. It’s part of why Magi as so rare, lots of potential ones either give up or wind up killing themselves.”

Cammie rewarded the guide with a smile, “Thanks Calidar, I guess all I can do is keep practicing.”

Turning to look down the path toward the towering mountains in the distance, Caylen spoke up, “So can you tell us where we’re going now? Gaishan seems to think that we’re out of any immediate danger for the moment.”

Calidar moved to stand by Caylen, his movements barely disturbing the ground beneath him, “Those mountains are the Eldricts. The one straight ahead from here, the biggest one you can see? That’s called Watcher’s Perch, and that’s where we’re heading.”

Glancing back at Cammie who had settled herself on the ground again but had not yet continued her training, preferring to listen to the conversation, Caylen continued, “Any specific reason why?”

Calidar gave a slow blink before responding, “That’s where the Watcher is, one of the Eternals who should be able to point us to our next destination.”

Caylen’s eyes narrowed as he posed his next question, “What’s an Eternal? And what are we trying to find that we need it?”

Calidar closed his eyes as he spoke, recalling his memories on the subject, “The Eternals were put her on Gaia by the Gods in order to observe and record the happenings on their world. The Watcher sits on top of Watcher’s Perch, seeing everything in Gaia with his immortal eyes. If you absolutely have to find something, the Watcher’s the best place to go.”

Cammie spoke up from her seat on the ground, “It’ll just tell us whatever we want to know?”

Calidar shrugged, “It depends on the mood it’s in, that and what we bring it. If you can bring the Watcher something it has never observed before, it is usually willing to trade something for it.”

Feeling that he already knew the answer, Caylen spoke up, “And you’re going to being it…

Calidar smiled, “The first humans to ever be seen in Gaia of course, one who can even use Magic.”

Sighing Cammie turned her back on the two, “Well if we’re going to use that as a bargaining piece, you’d better let me get back to practicing.”

Honoring the abnormally serious girl’s request, Caylen and Calidar entered the edge of the Fenral, listening to the sounds of the forest awakening to the new day. Approaching the campsite, Caylen spoke up once again, “You never answered my second question, what are we looking for that we need the Watcher?”

Dipping his head to avoid a low-hanging branch, Calidar responded, “Ah yes, you know that one of the reasons we were chosen was so that Gaishan could teach Cammie right?”, seeing Caylen’s nod, Calidar continued, “Well no one really understands your abilities as of yet, Aeryth’s the only one who’s even seen them in a way. We’re hoping the Watcher can give us the location of someone or something that can tell us what you are. Your powers are incredible but if you can’t control them then you’re just as dangerous as Cammie if she overextended herself, more dangerous probably.”

Caylen had to concede that point, and accepted the wisdom of finding something that would help him control his abilities. Even when he was not touching the Gemeos Blades, he could feel the fire burning underneath his skin, aching to be released somehow. It was lucky that, since their escape from Undrial, Caylen hadn’t had a need to defend himself or others, he didn’t know what would trigger another explosion from him and he did not want to tempt fate by fighting too often. Sitting near the remains of the four traveler’s fire, Caylen asked another question, “You said teaching Cammie was one of the reasons we were sent with you, what were the others?”

It was Gaishan who answered, looking up from a bowl of water that he had been gazing into intently, “There were three main reasons. The first you know, Cammie needed someone to teach her to use the Magic. The second reason was that, along perhaps from Aeryth and Illenia who were needed back in Undrial, we’re the most capable and most willing to defend you from attack. You probably noticed that most of the diel from Undrial were less than enthusiastic about your presence.”

Caylen raised an eyebrow at that statement, “And the third reason?”

Gaishan’s grin grew wider, even as his glowing eyes narrowed, his face still acutely amused yet suddenly filled with an expression Caylen had yet to see from him, an expression that suddenly made Caylen begin to understand the depths of power present in the fey. Gaishan’s voice when it emerged once again was quiet, “The third reason was, that if Cammie and you completely lost control of your powers, we are some of the only diel who could…subdue you.”

Caylen felt that he should be angry, or frightened, but instead he found the fey’s words having a strangely calming effect on him. The young man suddenly realized the stress that he had been carrying with him since his arrival on Gaia, the horrible knowledge that came when Illenia had revealed to him that his powers in his own world were incomparable to what he could do in Gaia where Magic was as abundant as the air. Knowing that there was someone who could conceivably prevent him from unleashing that power and causing horrible destruction was oddly…reassuring. Caylen gazed at the fey for a long moment before nodding and replying, “…thanks.”

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Cammie silently screamed in frustration as the flows slipped from her grasp again, a tiny burst of flame incinerating a small bush as they did. Falling to her back, Cammie wiped away the sweat that had gathered as a result of her intense concentration. Closing her eyes she whispered to herself, “I’m almost there! Just another instant of control, just another second of concentration and I’d have it! I’m just not quite strong enough. Just like always, just like then.”

As the young woman lay on the uneven ground, sharp tears sprung to her eyes, tears of frustration and buried sadness. Memories sprang unbidden to her mind and, to Cammie’s silent horror, the flows of Magic that she had opened herself up to wrapped themselves around her memories and then shot outward, the shining rays merging and falling around the girl like a cocoon of ethereal crystal.

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Gaishan’s eyes still narrowed after just finishing his pronouncement of intent to Caylen, shot open, a look of sudden fear and disbelief shooting across them. Springing lightly to his feet, the fey dashed from the campsite, literally dragging Caylen behind him. As the young man struggled to maintain his footing, he managed to gasp out, “What in the blazes are you doing?!”

Gaishan only had time to say, “Cammie”, before the two were already out of the Fenral. The Magi cursed harshly as the shimmering mass that had covered Cammie completely came into view. Kneeling carefully by the fallen girl, the fey held out a halting hand to prevent Caylen hands from nearing the cocoon, “No, don’t touch it. She’s conjured a living memory. If you touch it you’ll get sucked into it and won’t be able to escape if she manages to get out.”

Caylen looked rapidly between the Magi and Cammie’s prison, his eyes filled with concern, “What do you mean, ‘if she manages to escape’? What the hell happened to her?”

His eyes already sparkling with his true sight, Gaishan explained, “I didn’t think to warn her of it, to make a living memory takes a special set of circumstances that I didn’t know were possible with her. When someone who can channel the right flows opens herself up to them while recalling a particularly strong or traumatizing memory, the Magic can absorb the memory into it and cause it to manifest internally.”

Caylen watched Gaishan work, his hands clenching and unclenching as he fought his desperate need to help, “So she’s…dreaming of something that happened to her?”

Gaishan paused for a second, the nodded before continuing to pass his eyes over the glowing cocoon, “Somewhat, though it’s real enough to her. I just hope it’s not too violent a memory, if she strays from the true events of the memory too much and ends up hurting herself, or dying, it’ll be like it really happened to her.”

Caylen beseeched whatever Gods were listening that Cammie wasn’t dreaming of their escape from the Defenders, there were too many close calls during that terrifying time. Instead he finally settled his fidgeting by kneeling next to Gaishan, “Can you stop it?”

Transitioning to a sitting position, Gaishan shook his head, “Not until she comes to a point of resolution. Once she reaches a lull in the memory I can pull her out, but until then she has to survive on her own. Hopefully she’ll know she’s experiencing her past again, some of the stronger diel do when this gets used as a weapon against them and it generally helps.”

Caylen sat next to the fey, his eyes locked on Cammie’s prison as though he could see through the sparkling dome to the girl within, “Cammie…”

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“Gods stop it!”

An earthen bowl shattered against the wall behind Cammie, it’s broken pieces raining down on the girl where she hid in the corner. Tears fought to escape her tightly closed eyes, growing large and heavy before running down her face and splattering to rough wooden floor below.

“Spit it out woman! Who is he? Where do you go off with him? Eh!?”

Another crash of shattering crockery, this one preceded by a sharp cry of pain. Cammie flinched at the sound, wishing at that moment to be somewhere, anywhere, else on Gaia.

Gaia?

“Fredrick stop it please! There isn’t anyone else! You’re too drunk to think straight, just go upstairs and lay down, in the morning you’ll understand. Please!”

“Don’t play me false harlot! I understand you just fine!”

The girl cringed and covered her face as the sharp crack of flesh striking bone shot loudly through the tiny room. Hearing a body hit the floor, the girl peeked through her eyes to see the prone form of her mother, groaning softly as blood trickled freely from her nose. Sobs poured freely from the girl as her mother’s gaze fell on her, full of desperate love and pain. Heavy footsteps seemed to echo hollowly in the tiny space as the attacker approached his victim. Her tear filled eyes moving up along the rough and dirtied clothing, the girl’s eyes found those of her father. Glazed, unfocused, and uncaring, the eyes glared accusingly at the woman lying in front of them, a righteous smirk flowing across the unshaven face.

“You’ve got no right to go behind my back…no right. I’ll just have to make sure you won’t be doing that anymore now, won’t I?”

Horrible rage brought more tears to the girl’s eyes, tears of frustration as she recalled this same series of events so many times before. She had tried to stop it, tried to fight back several times but it took but a flick of the father’s arms to send her flying into a wall, or a table, or one of the small chairs that doted the room. Tiny hands beat the ground in mute fury as the man stood swaying above the mother. A larger hand reached into a belt and quickly emerged, glistening steel clenched in a sweaty palm. The girl’s furious thrashings calmed instantly, eyes growing wider than even before as the enormity of what was about to happen made its way through the young mind.

“Fredrick? What are you…no, no don’t, please. I wasn’t, I wouldn’t cheat on you, you know that! Dear Gods Fredrick, what about Cammie?”

The father was deaf to the mother’s cries, a fanatical gleam in the eyes cutting through the fogginess of the drink. The blade rose, its glimmer reflected in the hovering tears of the child who’s arms and hands began to move on their own, searching for support in a world that seemed to be twisting onto its side. One of the hands found nothing but splintery floor. The other fell on the handle of a fallen broom.

My first staff…

Ignoring the tendrils of though springing unbidden through her mind, the girl suddenly found herself standing, the handle of the broom gripped tightly in her hand, her eyes fixed on the still rising blade in the father’s hand.

“STOP IT!”

The broom came around, striking the father’s head with impressive velocity for the size of its wielder. A sharp crack resounded as the cheaply made handle broke across the father’s head, leaving behind a jagged point of wood. The father stumbled backward, dazed and hurt from the strike that had come from one he regarded as barely worth noticing. The girl dropped the shattered broom handle to the ground, amazed and fearful at her own daring. Falling to her knees next to her mother she awkwardly placed her hands on the fallen form, clueless as to what to do next.

I should have made sure Igot him the first time.

The voice confused the girl, sounding so familiar, and she raised her head to search for the source, thinking perhaps another had entered the hovel during the chaos of before. Distracted by both her mother and the voice that seemed to come from nowhere, the girl was not prepared for the brutal kick that dropped her to her stomach, gasping for the air that was driven out of her.

“You ungrateful little brat! You’ll die before you strike your father again, you and your mother can rot in the Thousand Hells together!”

Blood dripped to spatter the ground from a nasty gash on the side of the father's face. He stabbed forward with his blade, his eyes full of wild fury. The girl frantically reached for the fallen handle, seeing her death in those eyes. A hand closed on the shattered wood too late as the knife drew far too close. A blurred shape and a muted impact were all the girl felt of the blade striking home, hot blood gushing out around it to bathe the glistening steel. The girl screamed once again as the body of her mother crumpled to the ground, falling once again from where she had thrown herself in front of the girl.

Both father and girl stared at the fallen mother, the former with a look of grim satisfaction, the former with the dazed, eerily calm look of someone who had seen far too much horror in a short time. The father turned back to the child, dismissing the fallen mother with nary a thought.

“Now for you beast-child. You’ll soon be with your whore of a mother.”

The child shifted her gaze as well, staring at her father with calm eyes magnified by unshed tears.

No…

“No…”

The tiny hand clenched around the jagged handle, the arm driving it upward with all the force the small body could generate. The father, having already started to bend down to finish off his daughter, was unable to check his movement and pushed his own body weight on the makeshift spear as well. A gurgling scream drowned out the rip of cloth and soft fleshy noises as the spear drove deep into the father’s gut. Blood gushed once again, trailing down the irregular surface of the broom handle to stain the hand of the girl that remained clenched tightly to it. The father teetered for a seeming eternity, one hand still reaching out with the knife clutched in it, seeking its target before with a final gasping sigh the man fell sideways, ripping the handle from the girl’s hands rough enough to leave her palms torn and bleeding. The girl looked blankly at her fallen father before turning and slowly crawling to the fallen form of her mother. Turning the mother’s body to face upward, the girl focused her eyes on her, seeing the strength rapidly leaving her deep brown eyes. Somehow the mother the strength to smile, the expression weak yet full of relieved happiness.

“You’re alright. Praise the Gods. I’m sorry, sorry for so much Cammie; I wish I had been able to make for myself a better life so that you may have had the same. I’m…sorry.”

How can she be sorry?

The girl barely noticed that her own thoughts were mirroring those of the voice in he head, her mind suddenly filling with memories and thoughts of one much older.

“No mother, no. You can’t be sorry, I wasn’t strong enough to stop him all these years, I couldn’t do anything but hide in a corner! He was an evil, evil man and I just hid!”

A hand reached up from the ground to touch the girl’s face.

“So did I Cammie. We can’t always be as strong as we want, we can only use the strength we have to do what we can. That’s all anyone can ask of you.”

Brilliant color suddenly erupted in Cammie’s eyes, her voice gaining an edge of frantic desperation as her full mind regained control, “No! There’s always more I can do, there’s always some new level that I can reach! I have Magic now mother, you don’t have to die!”

Brilliant lights erupted from the young Cammie as the grasped the flows that should not have existed in her own world but that her mind was making real in her living dream. Her concentration and focus nonexistent, Cammie wrestled the flows from the surroundings, grabbing them as one drowning grabs a thrown line and attempting to manhandle them to her purpose. The flows rebelled, flailing and snapping back to their unearthly origins, snaking free of Cammie’s undisciplined and uncontrolled approach. Flows of fire exploded as they lashed against the surroundings, tracing a circle around the two, beyond which nothing existed except the raging inferno of the house. Embers rained down from the disintegrating ceiling, creating simultaneously a snow that was both breathtaking and unimaginably frightening. Flows of air whipped wildly about, fueling the flames as much as abating them, tugging Cammie’s auburn hair in all directions even as it brought further tears to her eyes. The earth groaned and cracked in protest, sheets of fire falling down the small chasms that were ripping the house to shreds. Even the water in the air rebelled against Cammie’s touch, congealing only to fall in the flames and create a ghastly fog that obscured everything except for the flickering lights of fire and the still falling rain of embers. Cammie screamed into the maelstrom, pleading for the Magic to come to her, pleading for the strength she needed to reverse what she knew Fate had already determined for her. In her arms her mother’s eyes never left Cammie’s face, the loving and understanding glamour fading only when life finally abandoned her form. In a rush, Cammie felt the flows finally tear free, continuing their rampage as she collapsed into a small bundle of grief that wept over the broken form in her arms.

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Gaishan’s eyes widened as the veil around Cammie seemed to fade, revealing the prone form underneath, her face smooth and pristine in her sleep. His voice was quick and commanding, “Now Caylen, go to her! You’re the closest to her and will have the best chance. Bring her out of her dream before the prison reforms!”

Caylen didn’t pause, practically leaping forward from his kneeling position; his hands came to rest around Cammie’s shoulders.

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The world he stepped into was madness. Fire fell from the roof of whatever structure he was in, disappearing in the great cracks that rent the earth. The air blasted him, pushing his coat up and over his head to the point where, with a ferocious tug, he ripped it off and gave it to the wind that seemed to desire it so. Peering through the hot, choking fog, Caylen spotted a crumpled figure bent over a body, could hear the sobs that were practically tearing the small girl apart. Caylen recognized Cammie, despite the great change in age, and wondered to himself what hell Cammie had gone through for her to dream of such destruction. Battling his way through the elements which threatened to devour him at any moment, Caylen fell to his knees beside the girl, grabbing her in his arms and yelling over the howling wind to be heard, “Cammie! You have to wake up! You’re trapped in your memories!”

Cammie’s grief filled face twisted up to look at Caylen, “Caylen! Even with the Magic I wasn’t strong enough! Nothing change, nothing ever can be changed!”

His stomach wrenching at Cammie’s words and tone, Caylen pulled her closer, “You can’t change the past Cammie! You can only hope that you get the chance to shape the future someday! That’s the only way to change anything! You don’t need strength then, you just need hope!”

Hearing Caylen’s words and understanding them, hearing their meaning ring true to something deep inside, Cammie released the body of her mother and turned fully into Caylen’s embrace, burying her face as deep as possible into his tunic and chest. Despite her symbolic release of that which was unchangeable, the sadness was still there, the loss still clutching at her soul. She continued to weep, her tears soaking into Caylen’s tunic even as he lifted his head to scream above the world that seemed to be ending around him, “Gaishan!”

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The sky appeared above him, the ground beneath cased to heave. The infinitely quieter sounds of the forest edge rang in his ears as the roaring of the fire and wind vanished. Caylen found himself returned to reality, the fully grown, and still weeping, Cammie clutched tightly in his arms. Caylen continued to hold her, his face twisted by his own grief by her heart wrenching screams, knowing that she was grasping onto something far more important than his physical body and not wanting to disturb whatever realization had released her from the living dream. For his part, Gaishan waved his arms through what remained of the glistening cocoon that had swallowed Cammie, dissipating the last strands of Magic that persisted. Glancing at the two humans locked together, Gaishan closed his eyes in his own sadness and stood, walking to where Calidar stood several yards away. Blinking his curved eyes at the two humans, Calidar spoke softly, “The first lesson is always the hardest.”

Gaishan didn’t turn to follow Calidar’s gaze, facing inward at the Fenral, his perpetual grin gone, “Power always has a price, even a power as beautiful as the Magic.”

His eyes glazing over, Calidar remembered a past not so long ago: one where Gaishan awoke from his dreams screaming night after night, one where he found the fey sobbing against a tree or over a stream, one where he had comforted the shivering Magi as all the horrors the two had faced had overwhelmed him. Falling back into the present he nodded, “Do you think she’ll continue?”

If possible, Gaishan’s voice became even sadder, tears not present in his eyes heard clearly in his voice, “Stronger and more determined than ever. The pain only reveals to you how much more there is to understand before the future can be changed.”

Calidar turned his eyes away from the humans to look at Gaishan, “You think it can be changed?”

Narrowed, glowing eyes were all that were visible as Gaishan’s head fell, cloak and hat casting everything else in shadow. The voice that emerged from that darkness was a raspy whisper, “As long as they can accept the torture of trying.”


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Alright, a bit of explaining is due here I suppose. I wrote the living dream as I did, the dialogue seperate from the descriptive parts, to try and better capture the feeling of a dream. I hope it's obvious who's saying what. This was one of my favorite chapters writing so I hope you enjoy it.