Masques (Sianim #1)(24)

She got her revenge, though. At last satisfied that his wife would be faithful, he entered her wagon and started making love with her. Unfortunately he forgot to remove the statue first. She became chieftain and ruled for many prosperous years.

* * *

WOLF OFTEN WONDERED WHY IT WAS THAT MAGICIANS HAD such wretched handwriting. The fine motor skills prerequisite to spellcasting should be reflected in decent writing: his own was very nearly flawless. He painstakingly cross-checked the word he was trying to decipher with several others to compare the letters. As he was writing the actual word neatly in the space above the original, he heard Aralorn laugh softly.

Safe behind the mask, he smiled at the picture she made with her quill scratching frantically along the paper. Her handwriting wasn't any better than what he'd just been attempting to read. The hand moving the quill was calloused and ink-spattered. Ink also resided in blotchy patterns across her face where she'd pushed back her hair. Reluctantly he returned to his reading.

* * *

ARALORN FINISHED HER BOOK AND REPLACED THE SLENDER volume on its shelf. When she found another likely-looking candidate. Wolf was deeply engrossed in his grimoire, so she sat to wait.

"Wolf," she said suddenly, startled by a strange thought.

He held up a hand to ask her to wait while he finished, which she did with some impatience. Finally he looked up.

"What is the difference between human and green magic? I have always thought that it was that human mages draw the magic from themselves, while green magic users draw power from the outside world, but didn't you say that the ae'Magi had found a way to link to outside power?"

In typical Wolf fashion he started his answer with a question. "How much training have you had in magic?"

She grinned at him. "Not much. You human mages are not especially open to sharing knowledge even amongst yourselves, and the shapeshifters are not exactly fascinated by intellectual pursuits. The only thing I know about magic is how to use it, and in that I'm by no means an expert. I spent enough time with my mother's people to learn how to shapeshift and a few minor magics."

He grunted in acknowledgement and then paused to choose his words. "The difference between human and green magic is generally explained the way you explained it to me, but as Ren would say, generalizations have a habit of ignoring much of the truth.

"The ancients said that magic existed in a secret pool in the castle of the goddess of nature, and she used this magic to make the seasons change and the grass grow. One day a clever man found a way to steal some water out of the pond without the goddess knowing about it. He was the first human magician.

"Based on that story, you might picture magic as a pool of raw, unshaped power that gradually seeps into the natural world to act as nature would have it - making the trees grow and the sun rise. My understanding of green magic is that it is the magic already harnessed by nature that the green magician can use. He alters, rather than creates; the magic makes the grass grow faster or slower, makes a wind blow stronger or not at all. The magic that he uses is nature's magic already shaped. It is safer and perhaps easier to use, but it is not as flexible as the raw stuff.

"Human magic works in this manner, at least for most magicians. First, the human magician must tap into our magical pool. It is like drinking through a straw - when one runs out of breath, the liquid stops flowing. The magician then takes this raw power he has gathered and uses it to form a spell or pattern that he shapes himself. The more magic the magician can pull, the stronger he is, but he needs to know the patterns to shape the magic into.

"If he cannot shape the magic, he must release it as raw power. Raw magic let loose in the world will take the form of fire and burn itself out: fortunately few magicians can call enough power that uncontrolled magic could do much more than start a campfire.

"For most magicians it is the gathering of magic that is the most difficult. Containing it and making it follow one's will is generally a matter of memorizing a spell or two, although a large amount of raw magic is more difficult to shape then a smaller amount.

"The ae'Magi has developed a way to leach energy so that he can use it to hold open the magical channels longer than he otherwise could have. He has greatly increased the amount of power that he can capture at any one time, making him stronger than any wizard living."

"You said that it works this way for most magicians, not for you?" asked Aralorn.

"Quick, Lady, very quick." His yellow eyes caught hers like a bird of prey. He seemed a stranger to her, hostile almost.

Aralorn set her chin and stubbornly refused to let herself feel threatened. "How does it work for you?" She rephrased her question.

Suddenly he relaxed and she had the feeling that if she could see behind his mask he would be smiling. "I forget sometimes how difficult it is to intimidate you. Very well then, yes, it is different for me.

"When I started working magic, it wasn't obvious at first that I was different. It wasn't until I started working the more powerful spells that the difference made itself felt. Most magicians are limited by the magic that they can draw into themselves; I am limited more by the amount of magic I can shape into a spell.

"I suspect that the ae'Magi, who was my teacher, knew long before I did, as I lacked anyone with whom to compare myself. The ae'Magi doesn't take on many apprentices. When I was ten or eleven, the ae'Magi decided to try to use me to gather more power. He had me gather all the magic that I could so that he could use it."