The Youth of the Dalish: A Dragon Age Fan-Fiction Story

Mana

Juli woke. Mother still slept. He still wondered why she became ok with him practicing magic with Omar. Was it so it to incentivize him to go to her lectures? He truly didn't know. He sat up on his cot. The grass smelled of dew as it was still wet from the rain of the previous day. He got to his feet, and noticed that the morning was young. The orange glow of the sun had a reddish hue, that's how early it was. As every morning, he felt heavy so he decided to head for the river. He picked up his gear as he was going to start training this morning with Doreen and Omar. Where were they training exactly? It's not like they had some archery yard like the one at the previous camp. Wait, is Omar teaching us archery or magic? Juli decided to not dwell into the questions, as his face felt wrinkled, all he wanted now was to wash it. He knelt on the edge of the crystal river and splashed his face with the water. As soon as the water touched his skin, the wrinkles vanished into his skin.

After washing his face, he'd figured he would head for Omar's tent. However, as he wheeled to head go back to the camp, in the middle of the vast open space between the camp and the river, he could make out three figures. As he neared them, he noticed one of them was Doreen. He could recognized Doreen's short russet hair from miles. He noticed Patrick's black head, him and the keeper talked. "How long do you think you'll take?"

Juli's bow told him that Patrick felt a great deal of respect for the keeper, however, Juli couldn't tell why. Omar had only met the man, and yet, they appeared to have become so close.

"On foot it would take us about a whole day. Perhaps two. So, if we don't get caught, a couple of days maybe."

Omar nodded somberly, and Patrick went off to the circle of magi. As Juli saw the man head into the camp, he noticed that Theresa accompanied him. Why was she going with him? He supposed it was to protect him. A simple blacksmith, Juli thought, is probably not adept at battle, like him and Doreen were. He could see the dread in Omar's eyes, as he fixed them on Patrick. It seemed as if this journey, even if it was just a couple of days, wouldn't be any easy. Juli glanced at Doreen, his bow still said nothing about her. He didn't know why, but he felt grateful that his bow, for some reason, couldn't tell him anything about Doreen. He trusted her, so he couldn't even imagine the thought of ever doubting her.

"First things first." Omar caught Juli and Doreen off guard, as they still gazed at Patrick and Theresa.

Juli turned and noticed that Omar's somber look hardened eve more, "Today, You'll learn how to control your mana. Juli," the keeper looked at him firmly, "mana is the source of your magic. It's what blood is to the heart, and what food is to people. It is a primal part of you." Omar sat and gestured them to do the same.

"You want us to close our eyes and relax." Doreen said, as she glanced at Juli and chuckled.

Juli grinned at the reference of nostalgia— this was the same thing Uncle had done when he started training them as hunters. There was something Juli enjoyed about the way Doreen laughed. It was a cacophony that he found endearing.The joviality seemed to have lingered for a moment until it abruptly was quelled by the sorrowful reality that Uncle was gone.

"Behave you two." Omar's tone was even, "Yes Doreen, you're half right. I do want you to relax, but keep your eyes wide open."

They looked at each other. Juli truly didn't know what the mage intended— he was till unclear as to what Omar meant by "controlling your mana." They both shared a shrug and did as they were told.

"Mana courses through your veins, just like blood. In order to control it, you'll have to feel it first. Focus on nothing. Push out any thoughts that may come about. Push them out, and you'll feel the mana rushing through you."

Focus on nothing? My uncle just died. As hard as it was, Juli tried. He caught a glimpse of Doreen and he could tell that she was having a hard time doing it. Uncle's death had been toughest on her, as he was like a second father to her. Juli noticed that Omar glared at him, he was staring at Doreen. He went back to his exercise, and tried to push all the thoughts that came to him away. Somehow, all the thoughts left his mind and it was as empty as the desert. Nobody at the camp had woken, so the silence didn't encourage him to think of anything. The absence of everything felt a little hollow and disturbing. After he floated in nothingness for a moment, he felt a great flood rushing through his veins— it was exhilarating. Now he felt the power of magic. Then, out of nowhere, a magenta orb floated in front of Juli at eye level.

"That's it Juli." Omar said fascinated and impressed, "That's your mana. Try to control it. Right now your body is trying to release all of it at once. Don't let it. Try to get your mana back into your body, let it come to you."

Let it come to my body? I don't even know if I am making the thing float. Juli stared at Omar, puzzled by the instructions, "How do I do that?"

"I know you feel a void right now in your veins, fill it."

Omar was right. The flooding Juli had felt before was gone. He assumed, somehow, it manifested into the glowing mushy sphere that floated about. He opened his hands and carefully placed them on the blob, as if he was trying to catch it. Then, as soon as his hands neared the bubble, he felt it filling the void in his body. He felt the connection of the bow grow stronger. This thing, the mana as Omar called it, was empowering.

"Very good." Omar smiled— obviously pleased with Juli's success. He brought a lithe finger forth, "Now, the trick to mana is to use as little of it as possible. We mages, or people with magical bows, have a limited amount of mana. However, the real problem with mana is to know how to distribute it." The keeper clearly knew the topic well, as his confidence was evident, "That current that you feel throughout your body," He gestured at Juli's arm.

Juli, regarding the gesture, examined his own body and nodded.

"you should only use a drop of that every time you use magic. It won't be easy." He made motion with his hand, pointing at Doreen, "She has been trying that for some time now and she still has issues with it."

Doreen looked down, as if ashamed of not doing well enough.

"That's ok." His voice softened, "It took me some time to master the technique. You two are smart, so you'll get it soon enough."

Omar's somber face came back, "Let's try it again."

Juli tried again— he dove into a hallow ocean of nothingness and only tiny streams of mana filled it at the seabed.