A Mischievous Tale of Magical Mayhem

21 | Lessons

A note from the authors: We have officially toggled the Mature setting. While this story feels tame compared to half of what we read or see on TV today, it's probably best to err on the side of caution. This chapter has one more steamy bit toward the end before we move into the final phase of this zone.

A week after his lessons began, Ben learned to still his mind at will.

Gradually, he'd come to 'see' his magic as a well of green fire at his core. Uncontrolled, it had blazed like a violent sun; now it burned steady as a candle flame.

Pleased with his progress, Bran continued his instruction.

As they sat in the meditation tent on the beach, Bran held up two glasses of water: one clear, and one dyed bright green.

"The clear water is fresh," he said, "The green is full of salt. What do you think will happen when the two meet?"

Ben shook his head. "I don't know, Master."

"Let us see, then."

Bran laid out a little table and produced a strange glass instrument from a cloth case. It consisted of two vials connected by a thin tube, at the center of which was a divider, which could be lifted to allow passage through.

He filled one vial with clear water, and poured the green seawater in the other. With the two sides filled to equal measures, Bran removed the seal that separated them, allowing the fluids to mingle.

"Now," he said, "we see."

Immediately, the dyed water invaded the clear, the colored liquid swirling forth in curling emerald vines.

"Do you know why?" Bran asked.

Ben shook his head.

"Concentration," said Bran. "Seawater is heavier—full of salt. So the water as a whole seeks a balance. The heavier invades the lighter, until the two are blended, like so."

He nodded at the vials, which were now a uniform light green.

"Um... What does this have to do with magic?" Ben asked.

"This vial," Bran tapped the one that had been clear, "represents our world. The other is the world of the fae. You, Ben, are this little tube connecting the two. The Fae realm is rife with magic; ours is magic-poor, by comparison, just as the clean water is devoid of salt. Whatever you did with Tallon, initially, to awaken your magic, it broke the seal, allowing fae magic to flood into this world, seeking equilibrium. If you can learn to control that connection, opening and closing it at will, you will have access to..."

He shook his head.

"The greatest source of power in Nirvala, probably," Aeslin finished, who had observed thus far in silence. "But we're far from there, yet. You will need a great deal of practice."

And practice he did—every day, all day, with breaks only to eat, sleep, and bathe. In the evenings, Ben was too tired to do more than kiss Tallon goodnight before he fell asleep, and in the morning he dared not dawdle. He had given in to Tallon's teasing and lost track of time only once. Bran had cheerfully barged in on them and hauled Ben away half dressed, like a small boy late for the school wagon; which, in Bran's eyes, Ben supposed he was. He had not stopped blushing that entire day, prompting Aeslin to send him to the healer to check for fever.

He had not kept Bran waiting again.

A week after his first success, Bran deemed him ready for the next step, and announced a change in their routine. The next day, Tallon would join them for the first time.