Tales of the Big Bad Wolf: The Red Riding Hood Arc (A Fairy Tale)

Chapter Seventeen, Parts C&D: A Circle of Light (cont.)

A long period of silence followed.

The young lady’s face showed signs of her struggle with the charge being given to her, a charge that she had no idea how to carry out.  When she spoke again, a flood of words poured forth. “That much light would require an enormous amount of power.  Even with hundreds of lanterns-- 

To his ears, she almost sounded panicked.  The Count placed a finger on her nose and her stream of protestations stilled.  

Deliberately, he turned his attention to the table and began to set aside the various implements and plates.  She could do nothing but watch quietly while he cleared a large area of the table for his purposes. When he was satisfied, he took a biscuit in hand and crumpled it, scattering crumbs unevenly across the table.   Elanore gave him a look of disbelief, perhaps even mild outrage to see him waste what was a perfectly good piece of food.  

The Count smiled slightly.  “This is a crude demonstration of one of the kinds of magic in this world.  Transformation is a change in state and order of an object or being.”  He looked aside for a moment, considering his pupil’s background.  “I don’t mean the kind of magic that you see in many stories -- a ridiculous noisy type where people use wands or staffs and wave them about while muttering long winded incantations.  This is the kind of magic that exists even without objects and words.” 

 The Count, hearing no questions, continued along in his explanations.  “Transformative magic is defined by its intent and ability to change the shape or form of something beyond its natural state. I changed the form of this bread with only physical force, but magic must step in to work against nature.  For example -- ” He dusted the crumbs into a pile.  “I can push these crumbs back together, but not cause them to reform into the original shape it was a few minutes ago without magic.  And if I wanted to go further, changing it into something different – like bread into wine – it also cannot be done without magic.” 

Elanore gave him a bewildered look.  “And you have seen this done? And is that what I am to do?” 

He shook his head. “I have seen this type often enough, but the type of magic that concerns you involves transference.” He took one cup of cooled tea and placed it in front of them both.  As the water settled, he removed one glove.  The lady nearly choked as he reached out to touch the surface of liquid inside that cup.  “A small disturbance,” he ignored her for the moment, “creates a much larger effect than the initial input.  Think of this single teacup as an analogy for a much larger pool of water.  A small leaf falls to its surface, barely imparting any force. And yet--the effect is to ripple the water great distances, the waves growing larger the further the water travels.” 

“Then are you saying that I am essentially to provide that small bit of … whatever it is that would create the light.” 

“Yes. The stones are, in effect, like water. If set up appropriately, they would do the work required to provide an enormous amount of light. The diagram shows this “pool of water” -- specifically the alignment of stones and where a person with the gift of transference needs to stand to tap into the stones’ natural properties.  The stones will harmonize with your abilities and with the abilities of the proximate stones and the twelve endpoints marked in this diagram.  Whatever they may be, they are likely elements that are designed to further magnify some protective effect or the light itself.” 

“Why are there twelve?” Elanore puzzled.  

“There are likely twelve, because twelve is a perfect number in many sacred texts and in mythology.  It is also the number of months in our calendar year and the number of major races said to have founded the world.”