14.3 Untapped Magic

General Summary

Day 161

I leave the humans to their socializing and sit quietly, observing the merriment of the inn. Alder was right to yearn for this sort of warmth and community. It reminds me of the Frontier.   Alder himself joins me and points out two girls who are watching me with huge eyes. One turns and whispers to the other quite blatantly and I smile at them. Brave little girls...they do indeed approach me (introducing themselves as Nina and Shae) and ask to speak in private. Upstairs in my room, I can see that Shae is younger (and bolder) than Nina. She pushes her friend forwards and the elder one speaks up.   She tells me that Hamman isn’t safe, that his magic is strong because he has been anointed and that he isn’t kind to pretty women. I bite back the anger that bubbles up in me and ask a few more questions that I know the answer to. She shows me a burned handprint on her ribs from where Hamman grabbed her - he said that if her faith was strong she wouldn’t be burned and then that if she kept satisfying him that he would teach her to heal it. She mumbles a bit about how no boy would want her and I know I should be listening but my thoughts are consumed with planning.   Our little Candlemaker’s traitor is the monster in the shadows, it seems. But he is a fearful little man treading where he shouldn’t, afraid of the dark for good reason.   We bring Camellia in and she heals Nina, channelling her pain into me so that the girl doesn’t have to experience it. The burning sensation is unpleasant at worst but still something no child should have had to experience.   Late into the night I call my family together to discuss the matter and am delighted to find us all in agreement on one simple matter - some people deserve to die. All that’s left to do is arrange for the fallout - Bran tells us of an underpriest named Eddar who might be able to take over the healing duties of a priest. The politics and leadership of the town will fall to the other old men, as it usually does.   He’ll speak to Eddar and then bring them to speak with me about their magic. It’s clear that the Candlemaker’s magic doesn’t fit, but there’s still power there. I suspect this is common in this town - there is such diversity and strength of magic here but only one sort is taught. From the practiced, raw magic of Ellen the hearth-witch to the deep well of untouched power I felt in Nina.  

Day 162

It’s around midday when I finally find Hamman shopping for trinkets at Rabiya’s market. I summon the voice that has commanded armies and garnered surrenders from countless enemies power powerful than him,  

You serve the Candlemaker - protective, paternal, watching over his children and keeping the dark at bay. I serve a similar god. She also protects her children from monsters and beasts. That we view light and shadow differently means we are two sides of a coin - not enemies.   In my travels here I have met other noble mystics of your Order and my people and I have defended the Candlemaker’s name and dogma. In the last moon alone I have brought down a pretender to the Beacon’s title and the Council of Deldrin recognizes the Elvish people’s service.   My lady, however, is also a kindred spirit to the Weaver. She is a mother to my people. Time and time again I have seen the Weaver’s mystics tending to the most needy amongst us. I call on her gentle spirit now - your village doesn’t need us to fight. it needs us to see one another as fellow servants of faith and justice.

  And the little maggot of a man seems to puff up with rage and self-importance. He spews something silly about how he isn’t as even-tempered and admirable as the Weaver (to no one’s surprise) but eventually worms his way into agreeing to my cautious truce. I dig the knife a little deeper by telling him that Bran will, of course, have access to his forge as a gesture of goodwill for the confusion of having him declared dead.   As he storms off, I turn my focus onto Rabiya to calm down. He sees and thoughtfully makes some small talk with me as we discuss his wares, even luring over a few women to admire the jewelry he puts on me. After about half an hour I’ve been invited to several women’s houses to knit and cook before the festival. I pass a few hours playing a tactical war game with an older man named Brinnon before Bran comes to find me.   The game is fun - a bit of military strategy and long-term thinking and Brinnon plays surprisingly well for a human. Still, when Bran fetches me I clean up the game in a few moves and thank him for the company. He seems a little bemused to realize that I had the game under control the other time but he laughs and thanks me as well and says that if his former lord and commander were still alive I’d give him a run for his money too. I like him!   Bran introduces me to Eddar, a slender person with long dark hair around their face. We go out towards an abandoned house to speak freely and Eddar tells me of how they struggle with the heat and fire of Candlemaker magic. And so I draw some blood and connect with the magic of their bloodline - Sella, the Duellist. Calm, wise, and a counsellor. And a duellist above all!   I sit back and let Bran take the lead, showing Eddar how naturally the duel comes when they are holding a stick and not thinking of anything else. We have to train them with Alder! This is magic that will flow freely for them once they learn to duel properly.   We take our leave from Eddar and head back to Bran’s forge to make a weapon worthy of them. I leak transmutation magic into the blade as Bran works it so that it will adapt to Eddar as they learn. Being back here in the forge...now that I have time and peace of mind I can feel the power here. He’s built it atop a small place of power - things here want to be made. When I point it out he laughs and tells me that Thalien told him this would be a good place for his own forge when he built one.   The night comes to a close back in the inn again. I’ve seen Hella racing around the town with some other youngsters and I’m glad she gets a chance to do this. When she comes and finds me at the end of the day with Nina in tow, I’m happy to see that she looks happier and braver.   Apparently the kids were playing a game where Hella would look for their magic, and she couldn’t quite put a finger on Nina’s. Using the same trick as with Eddar, I look into her bloodline and come back startled. She is almost as gifted as Hella but in a different way. There is deep elemental earth magic in her, and a steadfast, unshakeable power reminiscent of Knotrael and Doraal. In a human, I think it comes from the Sentinel. And what’s more, I can feel that it has been actively suppressed by fiery magic that feels unmistakably like Hamman. Typical of him to suppress what he cannot teach or control.   I assure Nina that her magic is not dangerous or uncontrollable like she was told. I have taught far stronger wizards than Hamman and she has nothing to fear. Tomorrow I’ll remove the fiery wall keeping her magic at bay and show her how to use it. I want anyone who lays a hand on her to feel like the earth is going to crush them beyond recognition.