My second little bit. I'm trying a different voice, hopefully more comfortable for me.
You guys are great, by the way.
edit: having a hard time with formatting in this forum. It's on my blog, too.
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Lendoren's Lesson
I remember it like it was yesterday. I was sitting with Master Abram, in the study upstairs. After three long winters of cleaning, cooking and yard work I had just begun my formal training of magic and this was my very first lesson.
It started very simple, Master Abram instructed me to gaze upon three stones he had set on the table between us. After looking them over for a moment, he asked me to describe them to him.
“There are three round stones; one has been painted white with three blue stars, the second is black, or I guess not painted at all aside from a red triangle in the center. The third is painted solid yellow.”
“Very good. Something you saw about the stones. Now tell me something about the stones that is not what you see.”
“That is not what I see?”
“Yes.”
“Uhm…” I was confused and paused, drawing a blank.
“Come now, you are a bright boy,” Master Abram said, “You could SEE the colors, use another sense.”
I had a notion where he was going, so I reached across and touched the stones one at a time and proudly announced, “They are not any warmer or cooler than this room.”
Master Abram smiled, “Good, you are thinking. Keep going now, tell me something else.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ll give you a nudge in the right direction,” he said, “I want you to use up all of the senses you think you have, so I can show you the one you have forgotten.”
“The sense I have forgotten?”
“Precisely. You can
see the stones. You ran your fingers across them and
felt the stones. You could pick them up and
smell the stones if you wished. Those are basic ways that you can sense the stones. I want you to tell me something else about the stones, which you cannot see, touch, smell, hear or taste.”
I stopped for a moment. He wanted me to tell him something about the stones that I couldn’t sense. I smiled and said, “The stones belong to you.”
“Wonderful! You choose a fine day to be thinking, young man.” Master Abram looked at me for a moment more and continued, “That was very good, you told me something that you
knew of the stones and that was what none of your senses told you.
“What I would like you to do now is concentrate on the stones and let your eyes relax. Do not try and look closely at them, and do not try and lose focus on them. Just look at them and relax.”
I did as I was told and took a deep breath. Looking at the stones I found myself noticing many more details than I had noticed before. There were faint brush strokes in the yellow stone, and there was a small smudge of blue near one of the stars on the white stone.
Master Abram slowly waved his hand across the stones and softly asked, “Which of the stones have I cast a spell upon?”
I could not tell. “How do I tell?”
“Open your mind to your surroundings. Use all of your senses at once and take nothing for granted in this room. This is your first lesson, Lendoren, to re-awaken your senses and open once again your inner vision, your mage sight.
“All around this room, take in the light and shadows. With all of your senses awake the shadows will deepen and light will shine brighter. You will hear the flicker of the candle and sense the magic of the stone.”
At that moment I felt something give. It was a tugging at my heart, like longing for a far away friend. Something inside me gave way and as I looked upon the stones they came alive. It was amazing and at the same time frightening. The stones seemed to be covered in writhing colors and rippling like the surface of a lake. The stones appeared to almost quiver while bright colors danced over their surface. I was drawn into them.
“Tell me Lendoren, what do you see?”
I felt like I was in a dream, my head light and I turned my gaze towards Master Abram. The room was darker somehow, almost blurred. Everything else in the room was insignificant and dull. The table and chairs were there but seemed somehow pale and cold. As my eyes moved across the room I noticed everything held a similar pallor. But the stones…
When my eyes finally reached Master Abram I felt something else. I had barely met his gaze when there was a bright burst of light. It was as if I were looking into a rising sun. I lifted my arm to shield my eyes and let out a gasp.
In an instant it was over. The room was back to normal. Master Abram was there, not shining like an angel, just himself. He was looking at me with a broad smile, his eyes as wide as I had seen them in ages.
“Well?” he chuckled, “How was that for day one?”