C H A P T E R 3

GODS AND MAGIC (PART 2)

Vi huddled in front of the Riddle, letting the ambient Etherik flow through her. Sorya's explanation had made it sound a lot like the Force, but with a lot more rules. She'd also implied that Vi was already capable of harnessing this mysterious, almost fluidic energy and should have a slight advantage over the average neophyte. Unfortunately, that was likely a white lie to make Vi feel better, since the average neophyte could probably read the inscription on the runestone.

Sorya had already left, leaving Vi to figure it out on her own. She took that to mean it was possible if she applied herself, but that was the same thing her aunt told her about math and relationships, and she could never call herself successful at either of those.

Eyes closed, Vi concetrated on how the Etherik made her feel. It moved around her, put pressure on her, and made her mind wander in strange ways. It was, in more ways than one, like being underwater. She felt numb, like she was partially outside her body but not entirely separated. Still in control, but disconnected.

Underwater, or dreaming. The darkness stirred, and Vi felt eyes on her. She recognized them.

Let's see how you like light spells, Vi spoke into her mind, as clearly as she could, her focus slicing like a knife. The eyes closed, and she felt better almost immediately. The Etherik around her trembled, reacting to her turbulent emotions. It calmed a few minutes later.

Silently, Vi thanked her high school guidance counselor for recommending meditation as a way to deal with her anger issues. It had seemed like such a useless skill at the time, but it had helped a little, and Vi had kept up with it long enough to remember the techniques.

Recentering herself, Vi breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. The Etherik fluttered around her. Before long, her skin began to buzz and tingle. She twitched and stretched her spine, trying to make the odd sensations go away. They only got worse.

Grumbling, Vi broke the meditation entirely and stood up. She flung her arms above her head and stood on her tip toes. The tingling leapt from her back to her arms, all the way to hands. She clenched her fingers.

Bright light flared, causing Vi to see spots even through her closed eyelids.

"OW!" Vi flung her hands in front of her eyes and jerked her head away, all the oneness she'd felt disappating like it had never been and replaced by burning frustration. Hesitantly, she cracked her left eye open and looked around to see what had happened.

The first thing she noticed was that the room was bright now.

The second thing she noticed was a ball of white light near the ceiling, so large that it shone like a small sun. Vi couldn't look directly at it, but she could sense its size and location in her mind.

Magic! Vi thought. Probing with her newfound sixth sense, Vi found she could feel energy flowing into her from her surroundings and being channeled to the light. The Etherik energy blazed through her like electricity, being pulled toward the light faster than she could absorb it. After a few seconds, the energy flow stabilized, and the light reduced to a more managable size.

"Let's see here," Vi muttered. In her mind, she visualized the energy as a pipeline leading from her body, with a big red valve in the middle. She focused on the valve, pictured it turning, and slowly the energy flow reduced to a trickle. The ball of light--her Illuminate--shrunk to the size of a softball.

Vi willed the Illuminate to float down to her waiting hands, and when it did she cupped it much like Sorya had. Shadows danced on the walls as Vi's hands shook, and soon her entire body was quaking. "Yes! Yes! MWAHAHA! HA! HA HA!" Her jittery cackling echoed through the chamber. "I can do magic motherfuckers! Woop Woop!"

Vi danced through the chamber, waving her hands wildly as the her spell orbited around her making soft tinkling noises. "I'm sorry. Vi can't come to the phone right now, she's too busy being a fucking WIZARD!"

"You may still be hot as shit Tiffany, but you're not a majestic sorceress! Bitch!"

"Two plus two is four. Minus one that's three. Quick maths!"

"I'm a mage, I'm a mage, I'm a mage, I'm a mage, I'm a maaaaaaaage!"

"Oh god I can't breathe. Shit. Uuuugh."

Vi crumpled into a ball on the floor, gasping for air. The cold air in the chamber prevented her from sweating, but she still felt like a tropical swamp on the inside. After a few minutes of panting, Vi grabbed her ankles and pulled herself to a sitting position. Her Illuminate came to rest above her right shoulder.

"Okay..." Vi huffed. "I can do the spell. Now what about the riddle?

Her eyes set upon the far corridor, which still remained in pitch darkness even though her light was shining. Cocking her head, Vi put her foot down and hauled herself up. "I guess I have to go through there?"

She began walking--slowly, as she was still trying to catch her breath--toward the darkness, but no matter how much closer she got nothing changed. The light seemed to slough off it like it was alive. She could almost see it moving.

Stopping a few feet away, Vi stooped with her hands on her knees. She had a strong urge to touch it, but years of bad horror movies had convinced her that doing so would be catastrophically stupid. She moved the Illuminate around her a few times as she stared closely at what looked almost like animal shapes wiggling around.

When the Illuminate passed behind her back again, hundreds of sets of eyes opened and stared back at her.

"Oh no," Vi squeaked as the shadowy wall erupted toward her like a swarm of insects.