The Currents of Magic

Chapter Fifteen

Inside the Arcane Observatory Meyer found himself in a narrow hallway, and following Jebb's instructions, he entered into the first room on the left. The room was small, though large glass windows occupied its far wall giving the space a light and open feeling. Inside were three younger tempests, sitting on thick rug mats. Before them was a slender woman, also sitting on the floor. She was dressed in white pants and a brown half robe that was cut to waist length. Behind her was a tall bookshelf.

"Ah," said the slender woman as Meyer entered. "Our final student has arrived." She turned towards Meyer, and as she did, Meyer thought he caught the briefest flash of surprise in her eyes. Then she was talking again in her slow soothing voice.

"Come, please make yourself comfortable." The woman pointed to a pile of mats at the back of the room, next to which was a heap of pillows along with several chairs. Meyer bent over and reached for a mat.

"Help yourself to a pillow too if you'd like," said the woman. "Or a chair. I want you to be comfortable here... I felt it was a floor day for me, and your companions seemed to have felt similarly, but there is no need for us to be conformists here. To each his own..."

Meyer took a pillow, and set his mat down next to the other three tempests. For a minute there was silence, and then the slender woman stood and closed the door. She walked back to her mat, but did not sit down.

"Welcome to an introduction to magic," she said. "I am Master Adryn." She brought her hands together in front of her chest and pivoted so that she was facing Meyer. "And what is your name?"

"Meyer."

She turned to face the boy next to Meyer. "And yours?"

"Peter," came the boy's response.

Twice more Adryn turned, and was met with the responses of 'Olivia' and 'Jessica'.

"Meyer, Peter, Olivia and Jessica," said Adryn. "I am honored to have all of you in my class." She breathed deeply and began pacing back and forth across the room. At first she said nothing, but after two lengths of the classroom she spoke.

"Now, our first task will be to forget everything we think we know about magic. Some of you may have already learned maxims of the Ancient Arts, but in this discipline, we will assume an empty slate, and so be able to build up our understanding of magic with the stablest of foundations.

"What is magic? Where does it come from? How do we use it? All good questions, and all questions that we will explore in this discipline, and that you will continue to explore as long as you study magic... And of course, there is no one answer to any of these questions. At its core, magic is mysterious, and I should think it always will be."

Meyer supposed that Adryn must have given a similar lecture many times, yet she spoke as though she were revealing a new intriguing theory. He straightened his posture.

"Magic is not a force internal to the mortal kind," Adryn continued, "but rather is entirely external. Just as we intake air in order to power physical action, we intake the force of magic to power magical action. Unlike air, however, which fills our lungs, magic does not fill us, but rather channels through us. When we cast a spell, we connect with the Currents—the limitless source of power that is—and divert some of its infinite flow. We mold this divergent power into a spell as it flows through us, and as the force of magic flows through the mold which is our spell, it morphs into actualized power."

As she spoke, Adryn's pacing evolved into a meander that led her aimlessly around the room. At first Meyer and the other students twisted in their places to keep focus on the Planar, but soon they settled into their places, accepting the oddity of Adryn's voice floating through the air from different corners of the room.