New World Sasanaichs

Six

Over the next week, Jamie surprised all but his infant niece in how quickly he recovered from the trauma of the snakebite, as well as the fever it’d caused. Just like Lachlan’d said, he’d shivered like a lad buried in deep Snow till around Sunset on the Eve after he’d actually been bitten, then settled into a deep sleep. That was the point at which his body simply went limp, and if not for seeing the slow, rhythmic rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, his relatives woulda all thought he’d finally succumbed to the combined trauma.

        It wasn’t till three Days after being Transformed into an Elf that he’d woken for longer than it took to relieve himself and have a bit of broth poured down his throat. When he did finally wake, he wasn’t surprised that the first thing he noticed about himself was that he’d a raging cockstand beneath the thick blanket that’d been spread over him. He’d managed to Will the affliction away, and it was only then that he’d dared to sit up and swing his legs over the edge of the cot he’d been moved to after his Transformation.

        Three more Days passed, and only a week after the snakebite that’d damn near stolen his Life, the ginger lad was essentially back to normal–except he really wasn’t. He was every bit as fit and healthy as he’d been a week ago, as if that snake’d never sunk its fangs into his thigh just above his knee. But he quickly realized that he was physically stronger than he’d ever been before, his sword feeling like a mere twig compared to how it’d felt prior to that snakebite. Even more amazing was that he was able to lift the biggest cooking cauldron any of them owned to hang it on the hook of Jenny’s fireplace like it weighed as much as a pillow. What really amazed them, though was when he was able to flip the even bigger cauldron they used for laundry onto its side, then roll it across the ground entirely on his own–a task that woulda taken help from Murtagh a mere week ago.

        Laughing as they settled on the Murrays’ front porch so all the humans could be Enlightened, Róisín and her parents agreed that that was one of the perks of being Elvin. They and their Fae counterparts–the Tuatha D’Dannan–alike were gifted with what could only be described as superhuman strength, which allowed them to do things that’d injure or otherwise break any human ever born. One such example was that they could quite literally kick a Tree down to fell it, rather than wasting Time with sawing through the Wood, if they didn’t just use their magick to do so. But the mention of magick put stern expressions on all the faces of the grown Elves, which made Jamie squirm as those looks were turned on him.

        “Magick’s no a toy,” Lachlan told him sternly. “Ye use it fer the wrong thing or wi’ the wrong Intent behind it, and ye’ll suffer consequences ye’d rather no fathom, bhalaich.”

        “I’m no sure I wanna ken, but at the same Time, I dinna think ye’ll lemme forego learning this part,” he admitted.

        “Just like anything else in Life, there’s good magick, and there’s bad magick,” the Elvin man said.

        “An example of good magick’d be us Transforming ye into an Elf to save yer Life,” Saoirse explained. “Ye may no have been as weel-informed as we’d have preferred ye be, but ye were able to make yer own choice.”

        “White magick’s defined as being magick performed for unselfish reasons–such as Healing–and magick always performed wi’ the other’s permission,” he said. “That’s why we prefer having the consent of whomever we’re using our magick on, but will take the consent of a close relative who kens that person verra weel, if they’re unable to give their own consent.”

        “On the other hand, Black magick’s defined as being magick for selfish reasons, to do harm to another, Control another’s Will, and–for some–magick performed wi’out another’s permission,” his wife continued. “The degrees of magick and definitions of bad magick vary with individual beliefs, though.”

        “And finally, the most common type of magick’s Gray magick, which’s what Elves generally Practice the most,” Róisín told them. “Gray magick’s the most common type of magick performed, usually for Self-interest and bringing about a Desired outcome that’s beneficial fer the one performing the magick.”

        “Which means what, exactly?” the ginger lad queried.