Half Magic | Book 2

Thirty Three: Meditation Revelation

It was strange to try to dive into meditation while laying down. It actually took a number of tries before I could settle into my serenity, my cabin. Even after I mastered that, every time I tried to move outside that space in my mind I would be thrown from the meditation. I was just too distracted.

I'm sure the sliver of moon will have crested the sky above before I was able to control my meditation enough to look around. But once I finally did it, I made every movement slowly so as not to disrupt the connection I was finally able to make.

The world was different. It was covered in a fog of magic. The veil of it was so thick that it was hard to look through, and now I knew why I had never really tried before. It was hard to believe that Nassir could handle this all day, every day.

I could 'feel' my way around in the dark by seeing the essence of life and magic that settled on everything. Things felt different, looked different, than they did with my other senses. Life and magic, they seemed so similar when I concentrated on them like this. What I could see of the valley from where I lay on the soft grass, was patchy with bright and dull spots of bright life. I could tell where buildings were, and those had more magic in them than anything else. Then I could tell where the gardens and animal yards were, since they were abundant with life and life-aiding magic from the witches. 

I felt my physical body swallow. A twinge in my left arm told me it was going to fall asleep soon, the way I was laying on it. I ignored it and pressed all my concentration on the ground. I had to find the trail that Nassir was following. 

There were many trails to see. All different colors and brightness. The strongest traces of magic were from her, Schula, and Nassir. Under that was an array of other traces, and it was hard to distinguish between people and animals who had walked by.

I was son engrossed in inspecting the traces of power, that I jumped in alarm as a yellow shape pressed against me. It made my heart beat against my chest and my eyes popped open wide. I was breathing hard in alarm as I was jostled out of my meditation and back into my body.

"Wren, it is alright," Nassir said as he reached out a hand and held my wrist. 

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

"You scared me," I said with a soft laugh. 

"It was not my intent. I was just curious to see what you were doing instead of sleeping," Nassir said.

I blushed, thankful for the cover of night and Nassir's altered vision that he couldn't see my embarrassment. 

"I was just... trying to see the trail you were following," I admitted.

"I thought we were sleeping," Schula complained from my other side.

"Sorry." I turned toward her as she was rolling onto her side with a yawn.

"Can't sleep with that intruder out there?" Schula asked.

I shook my head.

"I have had enough sleep," Nassir said. "I could be persuaded to move on, if we must."

"Me too," Schula said. "But not until I go down and grab something to eat."

I laughed and stood up, brushing grass and dew form my backside. "I can go, I'm the fastest runner."

"I don't know," Schula said. "If there is an intruder in the valley, maybe we shouldn't split up."

I nudged her shoulder with my leg. "But it was okay when you were about to go alone?"

She smiled and winked at me. "You caught me. I was just worried for you when you said you'd go."

"Why don't we all just walk a little farther. We are near Gilly's place and the sun will be up in a few hours. Wren, did you not tell me she wakes well before dawn?"