Then the gifts did what they should not have been able to do. They used a magic as great as ours! They multiplied our magic on our children, but they also multiplied the changes. Our children were greater than ever, but they were no longer our children. They no longer laughed and played, no longer explored and prospered. Now, they just raged.

- Chapter 25, the Unwritten History of Neah-Reath

“Learn magic? Me? But I thought you said it took years!” Teah almost wailed. “I don’t have that much time! I need to get home!”

“Calm, child. I do not mean that we will teach you to do magic like I do. That would indeed take years, although I suspect you would show a great aptitude for it. However, you do need to learn the basics of it, so that you can at least start to build your control of your abilities. That should not take much time at all. A few days, maybe a week or so, to help you grasp the basics. In any case, we will need at least that long to figure out where you are from.”

Teah realised that she had forgotten the source of all her problems momentarily.

“That’s true. How will you do it?”

“You mean find out where you are from? While I may not be in favour in the royal court, I do have contacts in the capital who are good at finding things out. They keep me updated with happenings, important news, that sort of thing. I will message them and see if they know anything that could be useful. That will take at least a few days, but hopefully they will have heard something useful. After that, we can start making some plans.”

“Okay. So what do we do now?” Teah asked.

“Now,” Cornelius said with an almost eager expression on his face, “I teach you magic. For your first lesson, which is the most difficult as well as the most easy, you have to learn to channel the Resonance.”

“What do you mean? I thought the Resonance was the thing that linked me to the stone? How do I channel it?”

Cornelius sighed. “It seems that we will have to do an even more basic lesson. My apologies. I forgot momentarily that you have no knowledge of magic.”

He leant back in his chair and arched his fingers, while staring at her and contemplating where to start.

“Alright, there are two types of magic in this world. The Resonance is the base magic that permeates the world. This is responsible for a range of things, such as the Resonance that occurs between things, such as you and the rock, as well as being how we cast spells.”

“So what is the other type of magic?”

“The other type of magic is the magic that we use to cast spells. This has a range of names, but it is effectively the magic that we create to perform spells.”

“But you said that you use the Resonance to cast spells.”

“Yes, that is correct. We channel the Resonance into spell-forms. This creates the magic that we use to actually do the spell. So, if I wish to make a fireball like this,” he said, as a small ball of fire appeared above his palm as he held it up, “I first create a spell-form, which I then channel the Resonance through. Then it creates the magic that creates the fireball.”

Cornelius tossed the fireball at the fireplace with a small flick of his hand. It landed on the stones and exploded with a small bang.

“Then, when the spell is used, the created magic is used up to create the effect. As you can see.”

Teah looked stunned as she stared at the fireplace.

“That. Was. Awesome! I want to learn how to do it!”

“Peace, child. We will get there eventually, but that is going to be some time away. First, you have to learn to channel the Resonance. We can start doing spells after that.”

“So how do it start?” Teah asked excitedly.

“First, you need to relax. The idea is to feel the Resonance that connects you with the world and learn to move it. This is the basis of all the magic that we do.”

Teah stared at him and blinked. “I don’t get it.”

He sighed, then carried on.

“First, close your eyes.”

Teah felt stupid, but did so.

“Now, take a deep breath, and hold it in. Then, breathe out as slow as you can. As you do, feel the air as it leaves you and try to follow it.”

“So, breathe in and out nice and slow. Like yoga. I can do that.”

Teah sat with her eyes closed, while she took a deep breath. As she let it out, she tried to concentrate on it.

“It’s not working. I can’t feel anything.”

Cornelius chuckled “you are trying to learn how to access forces that can change the world. Do you think it happens right away? Just keep trying. Feel the energy flow into you and out of you as you breathe. Some people like to visualise things that they have a strong Resonance with as they do it. Other people like to hold the item and think about the energy flowing between them. Try different things.”

“But how will I know if it’s working?”

“Oh, don’t worry, child. I guarantee that you will know it when it happens” he said enigmatically.

Teah sat back and continued trying to feel the magic. She started by visualising the stone that had exploded, but her mind kept wandering. She thought back over everything that had happened in the last day and realised that something didn’t make sense.

“Cornelius, why are you helping me? You said that mages didn’t care about other people. Why would you bother with me?”

He looked at her with a stern expression and replied “One, I never said that we are all called mages. There are as many different classes of magic users as there are ways to use magic. And two, I never said that we did not care for other people.”

“You said that you think they are beneath you.”

“Yes, they are beneath me. As I explained, the life I have experienced and they life they experience is incomparable. You may as well compare the life of an ant and a dragon.”

“So?”

“That does not mean that I do not care about them. I still recognise that they are people. In fact, many of the schools of thinking about magic emphasise helping the non-magical. It is part of the social contract.”

“What? You mean you all help each other? Because of laws and things?”

Once again, he stared at her with an odd expression.

“It never ceases to amaze me how you talk about things you do not seem to fully comprehend. It is a matter of ethics. We help them, because we can do things that they cannot. If we did not do that, then we would be worse than the monsters who haunt the wilds.”

“So that is why you are helping me? Because you can?”

“While that would be more than enough reason for me to do so, it is not just that. In fact, the main reason I am helping you is because you represent a mystery. It has been a long time since I encountered a mystery as puzzling as you. Finding out the answers to the questions that surround you will be a fine way to spend what is almost certainly my short time remaining in this land.”

“What do you mean? You’re dying? Why? Are you sick?” Teah sat up worriedly as she asked.

“Peace, child. I am dying no more than you are and the only illness I have is that of life.”

“Ohhh. That’s right. You are old.”

“Ha. Indeed, I am very old. In fact, I have lived far longer than I expected to. I am more than 30 years older than I had a right to expect. Not the oldest that a human magic user has lived, but close.”

“How old are you? You said almost 200 years, right?”

He looked at the roof, lost in thought.

“What year is it now? Let me see. It is 839 AD now, so I must be 193 years old.”

Teah looked up suddenly as he spoke.

“AD? What does that mean?”

“Hmm? AD? Amolorian Dynasty. Why do you ask? Do you recognise it?”

She hesitated before replying. “Yes and no. I recognise AD, but I have never heard of Amolorian Dynasty.”

“Strange,” he commented. “What do you connect to AD?”

She concentrated for a moment, but nothing came.

“I can’t remember. That just feels right for some reason.”

“Well, regardless, that is the calendar counting system used. Amoloria is the name of the ruling family, so it simply counts how long they have been in power. It is also the name of the kingdom, and the capital city.”

“Wow, they make that word do a lot of work.”

“Indeed. Some scholars say that it shows that the royal family value themselves over the common man, but having met and worked with several members of them, I doubt that. From the history I have read of this family, they have almost without exception valued equality for all and used their power to work to improve the lives of everyone. I think they did it for the reason most things are done. Because they could.”

“So you know the royal family? I thought you said you didn’t know anyone in power?”

“No, I knew the last king. The current king was a young man when I was in the royal court, less than 40 at the time. I don’t think I ever talked with him.”

“40 is young?” she asked in surprise.

“For a family that has traditionally been strong magic users? Certainly. His father was 120 when he abdicated to the current king, and I believe he lived to be close to 140 years.”

“I thought you said that magic didn’t run in families. That your whole family is dead.”

He chuckled wistfully as he replied. “Magic does not run in my family, no. If I had not been fortunate, I never would have discovered my magic and left my village. But his family is that of kings. Through careful choosing of partners, as well as having the best of tutors, they have kept their family strong in magic. That is one of the reasons that their dynasty has lasted so long.”

Cornelius shook his head as he sat straighter.

“But that is enough discussion. You have a Resonance to find.”

She sighed in frustration.

“I can’t do it. It doesn’t work for me.”

“Once again, child, this is the first step in developing the ability to use magic. It does not happen right away. Now, sit back. Close your eyes and listen to my voice.”

Teah did as instructed, listening to him as he spoke in a low, almost hypnotic voice.”

“Imagine a river. See how it flows and eddies within its banks. Watch the current flowing along it.”

Teah sat, breathing slowly, as she visualised a river.

“Now stand in the river. Feel the coolness of the water on your skin. Splash the water and see it glittering in the sunlight.”

Teah could almost feel the water splashing on her.

“Now,” he continued, talking slowly. “Look around and find a tree. Pick a leaf from it and hold it in your hands. Breathe on it. Smell it. Feel its connection to you.”

Teah held you hands to her face, with her eyes still closed. She thought she could smell the faintest hint of a leaf.

“It smells like pine, but the leaf is much bigger, almost like an oak leaf.” She murmured to herself.

“Good, that’s good, child. Now, slowly, carefully, put the leaf onto the river. Watch it as it moves with the current. Listen as it makes the water splash. As it moves away from you, feel the connection move with it.”

Teah concentrated, almost believing the image she was making in her mind. As she watched the leaf move away from her, she sensed what seemed to be an invisible thread connecting her to the leaf.

“I think I see it! There’s a thread there. What should I do?”

“Well done, child! You are doing exceptionally. Now, pick up the thread and pull it towards you.”

Teah tried to do so, but found it hard to grasp the thread, her hands seeming to move through it.

“I can’t. It’s like it isn’t there.”

“Try, child. Keep going. Believe it is there, and eventually you will be able to.”

Teah continued to try, but no matter what she did, she couldn’t seem to hold the image properly. As she got frustrated, her mental image faded. Finally, she stopped all together.

“I give up. It’s gone now.” She said, disappointed.

“Calm, child. You did better than I did on my first lesson. I only got as far as the river when the teacher first did this with us. It took me a week to find the leaf, and a month to feel the connection. The fact that you have done all this so far just reaffirms how strong the Resonance is within you.”

Mollified, she sat back, suddenly feeling a chill on her skin. Looking towards the door, she saw that it was dark outside. Suddenly, her stomach rumbled, reminding her that she had not eaten since breakfast. Noticing this, Cornelius looked towards the shelf.

“I think we have enough bread and cheese to make a meal. And if you look inside the large jar on the left, I think you will find some dried meat. It will suffice for now, until we can get more food from the village.”

They ate quietly, both lost in thought. Soon, Teah was yawning, and almost by instinct, walked to the bed and slept.