Fires of magic book 3 in.., p.9
Fires of Magic: Book 3 in the Chronomancer Series, page 9
“You blame yourself for your mother’s death? In the tannery?”
“No, long before the tannery. At my birth. My father told me she didn’t make it past my birth. My coming has always meant death.”
“No, Lin. You are wrong. I see the life you are bringing to Mel. Change doesn’t mean you are the bringer of death.”
“But the trappers that came asking questions worry me.”
“They are something this village can handle. We’re hardy folk in a remote mountain valley. I believe the trolmandr help us, but we must still fight our own battles. Life isn’t easy here. And those who do us harm have never left this valley.”
The confidence in those words gave Lin the boost she needed this morning. This woman didn’t know how to give up. Those eyes had seen life and death, and she wasn’t afraid of either.
Bridgette continued, “You need to see the trolmandr today. Do this for you.”
“I’d like to think my mom would have been like you.”
“I think her sacrifice was worth it. Now go find Mel.” Bridgette wrapped Lin in a warm hug. The smell of this house on Bridgette’s clothes was welcoming and intimate. Lin smiled.
The morning was overcast, and the air was brisk. Lin wished she had warmer clothes for the day. The dusty smell of snow was in the air, and she was sure the valley was no stranger to late snow. The people of the village went about their work, but Lin couldn’t find Mel.
She wasn’t sure she wanted to be alone with her thoughts now, but she needed to head back up the valley. Instead of walking through the village, she moved toward the stream first. She’d follow its length away from the cluster of houses, avoiding the people of Grondahl.
The stream greeted her with a gurgle and an endless rush of water along the banks. She paused for a moment and thought about the creek near her old life. The pools of water represented the times when she could slow down and enjoy the moment. But the rest of her life was a rush toward something else. Or away from something.
“Those thoughts must run deeper than this river.” The voice was close. At least it was Mel’s.
“I’m wondering if our choices matter.”
“Deeper than our stream. That’s for sure. Why would you think they don’t matter?” Mel stepped closer. Lin’s spirits soared when she saw his full pack of gear, and his strung bow was already in his hand.
“I feel small in the events of the world right now. Something counters every choice I make.”
“We are small. But we have the potential to be big. And sometimes greatness drops into our laps.”
“Then it’s random? Events of this world just happen to random people. And we deal with it.”
“No, I don’t believe that at all. Life is like this stream. There is a flow forward along an expected path.” He bent down and picked up a handful of leaves from the ground. “What do you think will happen as I throw each leaf into the river?”
“They will follow the course of the stream.”
“Of course. But do you think they will follow the same path?” He placed the first leaf into the water, paused, and placed a second afloat.
“No, of course not.” She played the same game ages ago.
“Our lives are the same. We aren’t the river. We are just part of the flow. But our paths may take longer or shorter in the stream of life.”
Lin enjoyed his wisdom. The people of this valley weren’t so simple.
“What if someone can change the banks of the river and cause the flow of the entire stream to change?”
“Until you said that, I hadn’t dreamed that could be possible. But now that you mention it, we should head up to see the trolmandr.”
Lin held back the rest of what she wanted to say. What if the one who could change the flow of the entire valley was chasing her? She hid that thought instead.
They stayed along the river bank as they moved up the valley. The temperature dropped as the day went on, and snowfall threatened their travel. At least the cover of trees broke the wind. Lin appreciated Mel’s silence as he respected her inner reflection.
The door to the house was open when they arrived. Mel knocked out of respect and entered the open room. As Lin entered, she saw the trolmandr were already sitting in their chairs facing the door. The fire flooded the house with warmth and kept the cold at bay.
“Looks like we might get snow,” Mel said.
Torbin nodded and said, “We’ll get snow.”
Lin raised an eyebrow at those words and caught Almeta’s eyes. She gave a slight smile and a nod at her unspoken question. Their magic was powerful. And neither of them looked a day older.
“We are glad you came back,” Almeta said.
“I’m out of places to go. I have no other place to run.”
“Then, don’t run. Pause and learn what is in your heart, mind, and soul,” Torbin said.
Deep thoughts today. Lin cleared her mind of her thoughts and pushed her emotions away.
“Will you give me balance?”
“That is something only you can find, Lin. But we can show you some things you will need,” Almeta said.
“But we will have to ask you to use some more of your magic to understand. Together,” Torbin said.
More magic. No answers yet. And a heavy burden.
Lin imagined the river taking its course. She would have to push into the center of the river if she would ever find her balance. She felt her mind give that shove from the banks of her stream of life into the depths of magic.
Twenty-One
Student of Magic
“Close your eyes, Lin,” Almeta said. “Reach out to your magic.”
This time, Almeta and Torbin held Lin’s hands. They closed their eyes and focused their spirit on the arcane forces Lin commanded. Neither Lin nor the trolmandr could describe to Mel or any of the villagers how they channeled magic. The opening to magic was something they could do. Lin reached for her sorcerous ability, but she struggled to find its embrace. Frustrated, she tried again. Lin lost the sense of power.
“I can’t.” Lin fought to keep the frustration out of her voice. They'd come all this way and had answers within reach. The trolmandr and Mel watched and tried to help.
“Do you think our touch is blocking her approach to magic?” Torbin asked.
“We haven’t done this before. It could be the case.” Almeta patted Lin’s hand. “But this is only the first try of a full day.”
“Lin, try again. All of us are here for you, and we want to help.” Mel’s voice was a few steps behind her. The quiet confidence in his voice cut through her self-doubt and warmed her insides.
“Ok. Maybe you should let me find the magic first, and then you can feel my touch.”
“That’s an interesting way to try this. Our magic is within and through us all the time. We can sense the small parts of nature, and we can touch and push at any time,” Almeta said.
“I don’t know enough to explain what my magic does. But I’m scared to hold on to it for too long. The magic would take over. Let’s try again.”
Lin adjusted herself in the wooden chair and moved her legs to prevent them from falling asleep. She ignored the time she’d spent in futile efforts to reach the arcane power. Lin opened her heart, mind, and soul. She lost connection with the people around her and reached out to the plane beyond her consciousness.
And the magic responded.
Her soul flooded with a torrent of power. Her heart reveled in the embrace, and her mind exploded with the potential to change the laws of nature. Excitement rushed throughout her soul, and the magic begged for release as Lin grappled for control.
She opened her eyes and nodded.
The trolmandr already comprehended the magic as it overwhelmed her soul. Their eyes glinted with wonder at this unique element beyond nature’s authority. Lin flipped over her hands to have her palms upwards and motioned with her fingers to the trolmandr.
Almeta and Torbin grasped her hands and closed their eyes. As the warmth of their hands caressed her skin, Lin’s flow of magic sputtered. The channel of power in her mind threatened to close with their touch. Panic caused the magic to surge within her to counter the reduction, and Lin’s energy fought through the trolmandr contact.
Her emotions turned from the ecstasy of arcane might to the frustration of losing the surging energy. Walls closed in on her magic, and Lin’s body became rigid with focus. She pushed harder through the block that threatened the channeled energy. If Lin didn’t know better, she thought the trolmandr were building a dam.
No.
Magic flared around her. Lin’s eyes were open, but her vision blurred to black. Her inner eye focused on the channel of magic into her soul. Lin’s fires lit the room with a pulsating red glow. Her fingers sparked with energy. Unwillingly, her mind surrendered control of the power.
One release. One push. Get rid of this dam. Crush the enemy.
Enemy. Who? Why push so hard?
“Lin, please let them go.”
Voice so close. Whose? Mel.
The last trickle of her magic sputtered. Lin’s mind snapped back into focus, and her heart gave a push to tighten the flow of magic. She ignored the dam inside of her and closed the channel of energy of her own accord.
Her vision returned as she gazed around the room. Almeta and Turbin slumped in their chairs, and Lin tried to interpret their look. She couldn’t lose them; they had the answers to her questions. She prayed they didn’t hate her. No, it was something else. Awe.
“We are sorry, Lin. We tried to do something as you touched the magic, and we should have talked to you about it first,” Almeta said.
“We’ve been the trolmandr of this valley for a long time, and the people come to us looking for help. They give us their needs and present us with their hope. Then they surrender to what we can do with nature,” Torbin said.
“For some, that’s a touch of weather or perhaps a good pregnancy,” Almeta said.
“For others, it’s a listening ear or words of wisdom.”
“When the village needs our mystic touch, it’s accepted by the people of Grondahl. We know what is needed. And our gift to influence nature energizes the change.”
“But you are so different, Lin,” Almeta said. “Your power feels beyond nature. Not like nature at all.”
“I don’t understand. I tried to clutch the power, but I couldn’t tell what you were doing.” Lin’s words tumbled out of her mouth.
“We couldn’t tell either. For the first time, we lost contact with nature’s magic and exactly what we wanted to do,” Almeta said.
“Without thinking about what we would do, we tried to close off the magic to you. If anything would work and heal you, we would start there,” Torbin said.
“You should’ve told me. I would’ve been prepared, and maybe I could’ve helped.”
“No, your wizardry fought back with such strength. What would have happened if we knew what we would do?” Almeta questioned.
“Try to help. But I don’t understand what I’m doing to control my power like that. You should’ve helped me.”
“We are sorry, Lin. That should have been planned better.” The tone of Almeta’s voice was genuine.
But how could they? Trying to help her was dangerous. She knew that from their first meeting when she made the flames in her hands dance. If they couldn’t be honest, how could they help? Lin struggled to find her voice again.
“What do we do now?”
Torbin and Almeta nodded to each other. As Torbin took in a breath, another voice joined the discussion.
“We make sure we all understand the plan.” Mel’s voice had the ring of command. He usually paid deference to this magical brother and sister, but he saw something different in them. “We discuss before we engage in whatever’s next.”
Before the trolmandr could reprimand or respond, Lin said, “He’s right. What are we going to try next? My body is aching from your block, and I’m tired.”
“Heavy snow is falling,” Torbin said.
“You should head back, and we can try again tomorrow. This will give us time to consider our options,” Almeta said.
“How do you know about the snow?” Lin asked.
“Because we are using it to protect the valley from those who hunt you,” Torbin said.
“Snow is not uncommon this time of year, and closing the paths in this area will make it hard for people to find you,” Almeta said.
Lin sat with her mouth open for a moment. Did they summon snowfall for an entire valley without aging a day or showing the signs of fatigue? She needed to come back tomorrow. She needed to learn more.
Mel spoke first. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“We can, but this takes tremendous effort and time. Nature’s power demands respect, but we can coerce it to help. We could use the magic to help in this case,” Torbin said.
“But it’s also tough to control once we set the magic into motion. We’ll eventually have to help the crops as we get into the growing season,” Almeta said.
“Every time we make a change, the consequences are difficult to anticipate. Too much change can cause magic to spin out of control.”
“Catastrophe.” Lin’s mind tried to process this power and its meaning.
Twenty-Two
The Snow
Lin and Mel gathered their belongings and left the trolmandr house. She felt awkward leaving without a word of thanks or goodbye, but she wasn’t inclined to social etiquette after the disastrous incident. Lin and the trolmandr pushed beyond the limits of their knowledge. Nature’s power and arcane might were not two sides of the same coin. Both forms of power could do great things, but they drew from unique sources and could counteract one another. Lin didn’t understand how the trolmandr would help her.
The blowing snow caught Mel and Lin in the face. Several inches already covered the ground and filtered through the trees to the forest floor. The falling snow muffled nature’s sounds as their boots crunched the compacting snow.
“Magic snow, huh.” Mel’s voice didn’t carry farther than the falling flakes.
“There’s no way I could make it snow like this. I’d have a hard time making a snowball with my magic.”
“I wonder how much weather the trolmandr make in our valley.”
“I’m sorry to shake your faith.”
“You haven’t. My eyes are now open beyond village life. Hunting, fishing, and tracking are so simple. I can create or destroy with my hands and my tools.”
“But now you know other forces may be at work. The mind can do so many things.”
“Is that really how it works?”
Good question. Before this valley, magic was just heart and soul. Now the trolmandr showed will and mind were essential elements of power.
“That’s part of the balance I’m trying to find. When I use magic, it’s in me. In all of me. I use my mind to shape the flow of power and create what I need to do. But my life channels the power to do the work of my mind.”
“It’s the rest of yourself I’m worried about.”
“The rest of me is right here.”
Mel smiled at her, and Lin was surprised the snow didn’t melt around her. The snow provided a soft blanket for their journey back to Grondahl.
The heavy overcast blanketed the valley sky and blocked the traveling sun. Lin was sure time stood still at this moment. The fields' gray and white provided no contrast to her eyes, but the sun was setting. Darkness followed quickly in the valley, and they smelled the wood fires in the village’s attempt to hold the cold at bay.
Mel and Lin entered his parents’ home and pulled the door shut behind them. The light and warmth of the fire were precisely what they needed. The bubbling sounds and fragrance of thick stew welcomed them. They hung their wet and cold clothes near the door.
“Late snow. Will be a good one,” Joen said.
“Do you think it’s going to hurt the fields?” Bridgette asked.
“Not if it melts off soon.”
“The trolmandr think it’ll be short. May snow up in the mountains for a bit.” Lin shot Mel a questioning look. That’s not how she would have entered the conversation.
“Grab a bowl and come sit. Tell us how things went with the trolmandr,” Bridgette said.
Food passed its way around the family, and they pulled close to share the company and warmth. Life with Johannes had never been like this.
“The trolmandr don’t know if they’ll be able to help me. There’s something about their magic.”
Joen grunted, and Bridgette shot him a scowl.
“But we haven’t given up yet. There’s more they haven’t tried, and we’re just beginning to see some changes,” Mel said.
“Snows too much, and you won’t get up the valley tomorrow.”
“Well, if we need a day or two to let this pass, it’ll be fine. I don’t think the trolmandr plan on moving soon.”
The rest of the meal continued in silence. As the family cleaned up from dinner, everyone jumped when someone pounded on the door.
“Dad, don’t.”
“Can’t leave someone in the storm.”
“But—”
Without taking counsel of his family, Joen slid the bolt back and opened the door. Two men covered in snow stood at the entrance. One had his arm around the other for support, and the one needing support had his leg pulled up with no weight on it.
“Hrut fell and twisted his leg. We don’t have shelter in the snow.”
Lin sized up the two men. They were giants. Full beards covered their faces, and they stooped to get through the door frame. Heavy cloaks covered their bodies, but their shoulders were broader than Mel’s.
Mel grabbed a chair for Hrut. As the wooden chair groaned under the man’s weight, Lin noticed the thick hilt of a fighting blade at his side.
“What brings you to the valley?” Bridgette asked. She scooped leftovers from dinner to feed the travelers.
“We are heading south. The snow surprised us.” The man still standing threw back his cloak and revealed thick blond hair to match his full beard. He was also carrying a sword.
