Towards the Light

Chapter 7

After trying persuade the shaman for a long time, she agreed to teach you some magic. Of course you had to tell her your whole history - how you were the Vayis and had within you magic of Light, how useless you felt about being the only one in your group who constantly needed protection.

"Alright. But I do not allow laziness," she finally said. "Are we clear, young lady?"

"Yes, absolutely!"

The shaman's name was actually Elide, but everyone called her the shaman. She told you to call her whichever you wanted, but you settled on 'the shaman'.

"Take some bread from the kitchen and water," she ordered.

After you completed the task you walked out of the hut. The woman led you to the forest. You thought she would command you to study books.

"Alright. I don't know how long you will stay in the village, so I'll try to teach you most of the basics," she spoke as you went deeper into the woods. "First of all, do you know from where your magic potential comes?"

"Hmm, I usually sang, but it didn't really have any effect."

"Wrong!" she poked you with her staff. "Magic doesn't come from songs. It's a force that comes from the deepest part of your Soul. Every living being has a Soul."

The shaman touched one of the trees. "Magicians are those who can pull that force out of a Soul. But it's not easy since magic is based on emotions. There are different kinds of magic out there. Now I want to know which kind of magic you have, young lady."

"Light?" you asked timidly.

"Wrong!" she hit you with her staff. You were pretty sure that after her lessons you would have millions bruises.

The woman sat down on a fallen tree trunk. You two were somewhere on the meadow inside the forest. There grew different plants all around you. You could name a few, such as wild indigo or borage. That made you quite proud of yourself - that you actually knew something.

"The most basic ones are those coming from nature, since everything is dictated by its force. Moreover, they are divided into the sub-types like defensive and offensive magic. To answer your question," she said looking at you, "Magic of Light and Shadow are both sub-types of Divine Magic, that can use both defensive and offensive force.

You started getting embarrassed by how everyone was reading you so easily. You nodded as you stored the new information in your mind.

"Touch this tree," she instructed as she poked a tree near trunk she was sitting on, "Close your eyes and concentrate. Feel the flow within this tree. Feel its Soul."

You tried hard. Really, really hard to feel it. You tried to reach into its core, but you couldn't feel anything. Not a single thing. You stood, leaning on a tree for at least half an hour and nothing.