The Silencing of Esteria

Chapter 19

"Again," said Jaran, sitting on a grassy hillock overlooking the sheep pens, "This time hold firm against the recoil. The lighting will not harm you, do not fear it."

Toland stood a few meters down from the wizard, an orderly pile of wooden tablets to one side, a scattered mess of burnt pieces of charcoal to his right and a stone about three meters in front of him that mocked him with its unblemished surface.

He sighed, pick up another wooden tablet with his left hand and extended his right arm out towards the stone.

"Strike with lightning," he said and from his hand shot a bolt of lightning, arcing towards the stone.

However, he couldn't help but flinch away from the sudden brightness and the lightning singed an area of grass a few feet from the stone.

The wooden tablet caught fire and he tossed it away before it could burn him. The flame was short lived, however, and was extinguished before it hit the floor.

"Is there really nothing better I can be doing with my magic?" Toland asked, exasperated.

"No," Jaran replied firmly, "Magical monsters have resistance to a great many things, including nearly everything mundane. You need something that is going to pierce its defenses, lightning is your best bet."

Toland huffed and picked up another tablet, repeating the effort.

"It would help if I didn't have to spend half the day making these," he said.

"Magic is a deeply personal experience. Runes must be carved with your own hands to work."

Toland sighed and fired again. The areas of scorched earth were getting closer to the stone, but they were still a way off from being considered a hit.

"Again," Jaran said, unmercifully.

Toland reached for another and activated it, except this time nothing happened.

Jaran sighed and picked up a wooden tablet of his own, this one was about the size of his torso and had a great deal of runes on it.

"Vel meshrana," he said, and he began floating in the air.

"You don't need to make those," Toland said, "I could probably carry you about just using a lifting rune."

Jaran sighed, "Moving under your own power is a gift often taken for granted, and until it is gone you don't realize just how sorely you will miss it. Two weeks of labor for ten minutes of liberty is well worth paying."

Toland sighed and they headed off back towards the village, Jaran using a stick to punt his way along.

"Jaran Ir?" Toland asked, "How do you get more magic?"

"I'm afraid that's another answer that nobody has a clear way of answering. Practice seems to be a good answer in most cases. The more magic you do, the more magic you can do, so to speak. However, many other methods reportedly have benefits. Praying to God is a common one, leaving out offerings to fae creatures is another one. Others claim to have gained power from drinking certain magical elixirs or using special crystals and the like, although I've never come across one that worked. Some have come up with more sinister methods, such as killing a wizard and taking his spellbook, ritual sacrifice or drinking the blood of monsters. But you just stick with practice for now, it will get you there eventually."

As they walked they came across Katrina, wielding a spear taller than herself and a solid iron shield that probably took both Rin and Fel to lift. She was shouting at a group of men who were similarly armed, save for wearing lighter arms and wearing some pieces of armor.

There had initially been some resistance to Katrina taking up a commanding role in the newly formed militia, until she had disarmed Lurdol with a flick of her spear and kicked him to the ground.

There were about 30 men in the formation, organized in two lines of 15.

"Right wheel!" she shouted, and the spear wall unsteadily turned clockwise.

"Brace!" she shouted, and the men stepped back to present their shields forward, locking them together and placing their spears into the dips where the shields met.

"Spears up!" she shouted, then before the men had time to get back into their marching position she shouted, "Enemies behind!"

The men of the back row unsteadily began turning around and reorganizing to face the imaginary foe behind them but some of the spears and shields got tangled.

Katrina rushed forwards, slamming into the middle of the formation, scattering cursing men about her.

"You're all dead!" she shouted at them, "All dead again! Get back on your feet, quickly."

The men grumbled and got back into formation.

"She seems quite confident up there," Toland noted to Jaran.

"Yes, she does."

"Almost like she was born to it. I guess having a soldier as a father, she learned a thing or two."

"A soldier?" asked Jaran, then thinking about it, "Well, I suppose he was."

Toland watched the militia get back up, dusting off snow, and get back into their lines. He noted how only a few of the spears were tipped in silver and prayed to the forest mother that no direwolves ever find their way to the village.

As if in answer, waiting for them outside his house, was Ir Veiga.

"They are here," she croaked.