39. Declan

Chapter thirty-nine

Declan

K els? watched from the table as I failed again, water splattering over the edge of the bowl in the stone circle. I let out a frustrated growl and flopped to the ground before realizing my mistake. I jumped up and tried to wipe the water and mud off my trousers, but it was too late.

She chuckled softly. "You might want to watch where you sit next time."

"I am starting to see the depth of your wisdom." My sarcastic tone was accompanied by a sidelong glare. "I've never had such a hard time picking something up. The magic responds, and I can feel it flow into the water, make it ripple, but it's like trying to hold . . . I don't know . . . water . It slips between my fingers, and the more I focus, the faster it falls apart."

órla had been soaring high above but descended to land in front of me when she noticed my practice end abruptly. She now stood a towering eight inches tall, and the golden brown of her wings and body had faded to pure white. Oddly, the feathers across her chest were turning more gold. Part of me was sad to see the set of her eyes transforming from their round, perpetually wide-eyed look of surprise to a more oval, predatorial appearance. She hadn't lost her playful, childlike banter, but she would slip into moments of serious contemplation as often as she jibed.

"Declan, you think too much," órla said. "Magic needs you to react , not think. It responds to your heart, to your needs —not your head—and that's a good thing, because I've been inside your head. It's a very scary place."

Kels?'s eyes widened as her lips quirked upward. "You should listen to her more often. She may be a better teacher than I am."

"You hear that, Declan? You should listen to me—and that's from your mother ." órla flapped into the bowl and took a drink.

I shot Kels? another glare. "You don't have to encourage her, you know? She may be growing fast, but she's still that perky little owl I found in the woods."

Ignoring me, my mother shot to her feet. "Declan, stand up and go to the inner edge of the ring. I have an idea."

I was startled by her change in tone but did as she asked.

She stepped just inside the outer ring as I shuffled to the other side and turned to face her. Before I knew what was happening, a ball of water streaked from the bowl toward my face. Instinct kicked in, and I threw up my hands. Magic flared from my palms, and the ball froze in the air a few inches away. I watched with wide eyes as the ball wiggled and wobbled but didn't break apart.

"I've got it!" I shouted. "órla, are you seeing this? I've got it!"

órla streaked by, poking her beak into the ball and splashing water all over me.

"What was that for?"

"Kels? told me to keep you humble. It looked like you needed your bubble burst." She giggled.

I scowled as I wiped my face.

Kels? laughed and clapped. "órla, I'm glad to see you're taking your duties seriously."

Then she turned to me and said, "Well done, Declan. Now, dry yourself."

I shrugged and turned to leave the circle, a proud grin plastered across my face.

But Kels? raised a palm. "Where are you going?"

I froze. "You told me to dry off. I'm going to get a towel."

"Not like that. You have everything you need in that circle. Now, dry yourself."

I glanced down at my dripping shirt and realized what she meant. I was working on controlling water. I could dry myself if I could just master control, but concentrating and trying to outstare my magic hadn't worked. On a whim, I looked down again and waved my arm in a sharp motion, " yanking" the water out of my shirt. Droplets of water flew out of the fabric, across the circle, and all over Kels?.

Now it was my turn to laugh. "How was that? Looks like you might need a towel."

Kels? chuckled. She waved a wrist, and water dashed from her robe over the cliff. "I am okay with a little water if it helps you take the next step. What did you do that time?"

"I don't know. I didn't think about it; I just did it."

Kels?'s eyes sparkled. "Good. Form a ball above the bowl."

I turned toward the center pillar and formed a floating ball of liquid. I raised it high, then made it fly around the circle before accidentally smashing it into one of the outer stones.

"That's so amazing." I could barely contain myself. "What else? What's next?"

"All right, let's make this harder." Kels? moved to the bowl and scattered its contents across the landing. "Now, you're in the woods, and there's no lake or stream nearby to pull from. How do you form the ball?"

I thought a moment, then decided to try the same trick I'd used on my shirt, pulling the scattered water. I motioned as though yanking a rope toward me, and the droplets flew. When they were a stride away, I opened my palm and began "molding" to command a ball to form .

"Not bad, but you used only what I scattered. That's like having a lake nearby. I want you to do it again but not use the water that was in the bowl."

My smirk fell into a frown of concentration as I scoured the area to find anything that might contain water. Rocks, weeds, trees, birds—using living animals was forbidden, but plants?

"Are plants part of the dark magic prohibition?"

Kels? nodded. "Off limits. What else?"

The mountain air was cool and crisp with virtually no humidity.

I looked down again. The inner ring rested on a floor of solid, unmarred stone. Something in the powerful magic of the circle kept nature at bay, but as my eyes traveled outward, I realized that a thin layer of settled dirt began with the outer ring and covered the areas outside of the stones, allowing growth of some wildflowers, weeds, and shrubs. I walked to the edge of the outer ring, kneeled, and rubbed a clump of dirt between my fingers.

My cocky grin returned.

I leaped back into the inner ring and focused on the surrounding dirt, careful to avoid the plants. Through my magic, I felt the moisture in the dirt. There wasn't much, but it was there. I began to pull it toward me but realized how much effort this would require. After a couple of minutes, a tiny drop of water shimmered in front of me. My pinky toe was bigger than the wobbling drop .

The ball Kels? had asked me to form was to be the size of my fist.

I grimaced and returned my focus to the dirt.

An hour later, I fell against a stone of the inner ring with sweat pouring down my face. A ball of water meeting Kels?'s request jiggled unsteadily above the empty bowl. My hands shook as I struggled to contain it, tired muscles rebelling after an hour of intense magical strain. I peered up to claim victory, but my concentration snapped, and the ball splashed into the bowl. I leaned my head back against the cold stone and sucked in labored breaths.

Kels? clapped from her seat at the table. "Very good. What did you learn?"

I lolled my head toward her, too tired to lean forward. "That I don't want to stray too far from a water source. That might be the hardest thing I've ever done."

She smiled. "What else?"

"I can't think right now. I can barely move. Can we take a break and talk about this later?"

"No. This is important, perhaps the most important lesson you will learn today." She crossed her arms. "What else?"

I stared up at the sky.

The Ranger corps put new recruits through physical trials that were meant to weed out the weak, but in that moment, I couldn't recall ever being so sore. I had remained still throughout the exercise; and yet, every muscle in my body cried out.

"Magic hurts like hell."

Kels? inclined her head. "Not the most elegant answer, but I will take it. When you use magic, you combine your own life force with your Light. It takes both to achieve a result. You pour them into the task at hand, draining yourself in a similar way you just drained the surrounding soil of its moisture. In this case, it is your endurance, your health , that is being drawn out. It is exhausting, but it can also be dangerous—even deadly. Draw too much, push yourself too hard magically, and you will literally sacrifice yourself for your task."

"That makes sense. I sure feel it right now." I braced myself on the stone as I struggled to stand. "What I don't understand is how magic users, especially Mages, can do such incredible things and not cross that line. I don't remember seeing Atikus get winded, much less wrecked like I feel right now."

"Think of it like physical conditioning. When you first joined the Rangers, were you as strong as you are today? Were you able to run as far? Climb as long? Did you have to work at it to build up your endurance?"

"Of course. We worked out and practiced every day."

She nodded. "Swordplay, marksmanship, magic—the idea is the same. Your endurance is built in different ways, but the same principle applies. So, my strong Ranger, not only do we have to boost your knowledge and skill, we also have to build your magical stamina."

I passed through the rings and flopped into a chair, then poured myself a glass of the wine that now tasted like plums. "Do we have that long? I mean, the Kingdom's invasion could come with the spring thaw. How am I going to be ready to do any good by then?"

"How long have you been here?"

I thought a moment. "A couple of weeks, maybe a little more."

"A full day has not passed back on the mainland. Remember what I said about mountain time? By the time spring arrives in Melucia, you will have been here three years." She smiled. "I wish we could have a hundred more . . ."

"Three years?" My mouth fell open. "That's incredible, but . . . does that mean you don't think we'll have enough time, even with the spells?"

She stared at her hands for a long moment, then spoke quietly. "No. I'll make sure you are as ready as possible. I just . . . I wish I had more time with you."

I mastered calling water from an existing source and shaping it into something useful or hurling it across the ledge. I particularly liked that skill, as it allowed me to instigate several all-out water battles, driving my mother to duck behind pillars as she hurled her own watery missiles in my direction.

Kels? expanded my training to include other Elemental powers: fire, earth, and air. She gave me books to read, and we tried visualization techniques. She even built a giant bonfire in the middle of the stone circles, but my magic couldn't sense the element, much less do anything with it. After a week of exercises and diligent study, she determined fire was absent from my magical arsenal.

I was also blind to earth, unable to sense or touch even the most basic stone with my Light.

"I know it's disappointing. Fire, in particular, offers practical applications, particularly in battle, and earth magic is what the Phoenix used to raise the mountains on the border," Kels? explained. "There's nothing we can do about it, though. You have the Gifts that you were given, so let's move on to air."

My shoulders slumped. I knew I shouldn't expect to be able to do everything magic had to offer, but I was still disappointed.

"Fire would've been really cool," órla chirped in my head.

"Declan, are you listening?"

I startled and realized Kels? had been talking while I daydreamed about balls of flame floating above my palm.

"Sorry, can you say that again?"

She shot me an annoyed glare. "Air may seem weak compared to the other elements, but I assure you, it's not. Do you remember calling a shield that blocked arrows in your trial with the Keeper?"

"Oh, yeah. I have no idea how I did it, but that was awesome . . . until it disappeared and Atikus got shot."

"Focus," she chided. "Air is powerful, and, like water, it's everywhere. Up here in the mountains, where things thin out, you'll have the same issue as when trying to draw water from the dirt, but in every other place, you should be able to easily manipulate the surrounding air.

"The biggest challenge with air is that you can't see it. You may see the effects of its passing, like blowing leaves or swaying trees, but seeing the air itself is next to impossible."

I furrowed my brow. "I couldn't see the water in the dirt. Shouldn't it be the same thing here? I just use my Light to reach out and grab it?"

"Inelegant, as always, but accurate." She chuckled. "Before we try practical exercises, one word of caution. Air is naturally connected to most everything. Think about it. It is all around you right now, and you're breathing it in. So, it is actually going in and out of your body. What do you think could go wrong?"

"Oh, I know where you're going. If I draw too much or am careless about where I'm drawing from, I could suck the air right out of my own lungs. "

She nodded. "Not a fun experience. I've done it and nearly killed myself in the process. It's even easier to do to another person because you can't feel them being out of breath like you could if it was your own lungs. A strong draw can happen so quickly that it could be too late by the time you realized you were killing someone."

"Does it matter how close the air is when you draw? I mean—if I draw from three hundred paces away, will it take longer to shape the air than if I drew from nearby?"

"No, it wouldn't matter. The draw is so fast you wouldn't lose any timing or effectiveness. So, given that, how would you do a draw from three hundred paces away?"

"That seems simple." Her raised brow told me to think again. "I guess . . . wouldn't I just focus on a point three hundred paces away and draw?"

"Show me with your finger. Point to where you'd draw right now."

I scanned the ledge and pointed out across the stones into the wilderness.

"All right. That would work, but what if there were people over there, and you couldn't draw in that direction? What if you needed to draw from, say, inside the cavern?"

"I guess I could do that, but I can't see in there right now. How would I know there's no one in there? How could I even know I was drawing from where I wanted to, since I couldn't see it? "

"Good. Very good. Here's the rule: You can only draw from a place you've actually visited because you'll need to recall it in your mind to guide your Light. As for people being there, that's the risk you're taking by drawing out of sight. I would only do that in extreme emergencies," she said. "Questions before we try it?"

When I didn't object, Kels? walked me back to the center of the stone circles. "Let's use the focus point you mentioned before, three hundred paces out there in the woods. Actually, it's above the woods from here, which is even better. Find your Light, then reach out and sense the air. This time, don't touch the air, just sense it. I want you to describe what you see."

The past couple of weeks had taught me confidence, and my Light came to me without having to close my eyes to concentrate. I squinted beyond the ledge to a point high above the forest and cast my Light in that direction. It was as if part of my own consciousness was sailing toward the clouds.

"This is crazy!" I laughed.

"Tell me what you see. What you feel."

"It's like . . . like part of me floated out of my body, and I'm in both places at the same time. I can feel my Light weaving in and out of currents of air, being pushed and pulled in different directions—but it's more than wind; I can see the air shimmering as my Light passes through it. It's as though I'm painting the air with a magic brush. There are so many colors. It's incredible."

"The colors represent temperature and purity. Cold air appears tinged with blue, while hot air flares yellow. As your Light passes through objects, like leaves floating in the wind, those things will flare with a color of their own. Living things will pulse and have an aura that varies with their nature." She paused, seeming to let me enjoy the experience. "Now, find a place where the air is pure blue, or as close to it as you can get. I want you to use your Light like you did with water and shape the air. Form a ball again."

"Okay. I found it, but how will we see it? Air's invisible, right?"

"You're infusing the air with your magic. You'll see it. Trust me."

Seconds later, a ball of air materialized, swirling high above the trees. It pulsed with shimmering light. My eyes widened, and I laughed as I forced the ball to rise and fall, then zip back and forth.

"I'm doing it! I'm really doing this!"

As my excitement grew, the ball expanded and pulsed brighter. Branches on the tops of the trees began rustling and bending upward, as if being sucked into the ball. A chorus of birds erupted below, and hundreds took flight, scattering in all directions.

"Declan, release it now." Kels?'s voice was suddenly stern .

I didn't act immediately, and the ball continued to grow. When Kels? placed a hand on my shoulder and shook me to break my concentration, the ball dissipated, and the trees drooped back to their resting position. A shock wave of air rushed over the ledge, kicking up dirt and debris.

"What was that ?" I asked.

My mother turned my shoulders toward her. "You lost yourself in the moment—in the excitement. We call that the thrill of magic. This is another cautionary lesson: The whole thing is intoxicating, having power . . . being able to do things few others can do. The way magic feels when you give yourself to the moment is unlike anything else, but Declan, listen to me now. If you lose yourself like that without me here to pull you back, you will cause incredible harm to everyone and everything around you. Your Light may save you, but you will become the eye of a terrible storm."

My head drooped. "That was the most incredible thing I've ever felt. It was like I was full of power and energy . . . but you're right. When I got excited, it was like the magic took over. It wanted to grow."

"Magic is a force. It's a tool. It doesn't have a mind of its own. As a Mage, you must remain in command of your magic, or it will run wild and consume everything around you, possibly even consume you if you can't regain control. "

I peered over the ledge at the trees. The birds that fled were distant dots on the horizon. I felt myself deflate thinking about how close I'd come to harming the forest with so little effort.

As I stared into the distance, órla's voice echoed in my head. "Now you know why we were brought together. When the time comes for you to leave the safety of the mountain, I will be the one to ground you, to protect and guide you. You are my purpose, Declan."

I scanned about for the owl, unable to spot her anywhere near the ledge. "Where are you? How are you talking in my head again?"

"Uh, hello! Powerful, wise, magical owl. Daughter of Magic, remember? Here I thought we were making progress." She floated down and landed on the pillar beside me.

I tried not to laugh. I really tried, but when she tilted her head and raised one bushy brow, I lost it.

Kels? eyed us, then turned toward the cave's opening. "I don't know what that was all about, but I think that's enough for one day. I'm going inside to work on dinner."

I whispered to órla, "She couldn't hear you in my head?"

"Nope. I can choose who hears me. We had a moment. Moment's over."

"I heard that!" Kels?'s laughter echoed through the cavern.