It had been almost three weeks since the group from Echo had arrived at The Sanctum of the Magi. They were welcomed as guests, but treated like family. Since the time of their arrival, the group from Echo had developed a routine of sorts. J?kob would go and visit Wi?dwyr? every morning before he broke his fast, and every evening before he went to bed, he would visit him and tell him about his day. The elders did not permit them to be in close proximity for long periods of time. After Wi?dwyr?'s arrival, the group was moved to the rooms farthest from the Hall of Dragons to reduce their contact.
Throughout the days while J?kob was learning his craft, Wi?dwyr? would undergo training as well. He began lessons in combat flying from the elder dragons and soon he would be allowed to have J?kob join him for some lessons. The two of them shared their training through their bond. Since Wi?dwyr? had arrived, he and J?kob began sensing and feeling each other's thoughts. This allowed each of them to learn what the other learned. J?kob was aware of Wi?dwyr? learning about updrafts and wind currents, and Wi?dwyr? was learning the ancient language of magic as J?kob was being taught. It was especially helpful to J?kob. Wi?dwyr?'s memory was better than his and J?kob could always check with him if he was unsure of a word. Plus, seeing what Wi?dwyr? was being taught would be beneficial for when they would finally get to fly together.
They weren't sure how far their bond would stretch, but here at the sanctum, it was strong. It was an odd feeling for J?kob, but in the three weeks since each of their arrivals, it had become a part of him and he was enjoying it, but it did make it difficult for J?kob when he was having trouble focusing on his lessons. A bonding like this had not occurred in over five hundred years and there was no one to teach the two what to do. There were scrolls passed down from previous generations, but J?kob knew very little of the ancient language and relied on Wilhelm to help him to read them.
The first lesson that the elders were planning on teaching both of them, was how to block the flow of thoughts between the two for short periods of time without severing their link. The elders were fearful of the bond. Their ages were too young to fully accept the bond, and it was the safest option that would sate Wi?dwyr?'s father and the other elder dragons to keep them from crashing through the doorway and taking him home to protect his son. The sanctum was a strong fortress, but it was no match for a dragon of his magnitude.
J?kob and Matáo were seated at a table in the grand dining hall eating their breakfast and waiting for the others to join them. Wilhelm had been granted permission from the elders to begin J?kob’s training in the mystical arts of magic for a short time, and he was progressing well. He would soon be transferred into the care of the elders to begin training in more advanced forms of magic, once he had finished learning the basics of the ancient language from Wilhelm. Matáo and the other boys had begun training in different forms of combat.
They were being taught to wield the weapons of war. He and Jonah were excellent archers, but neither of them had any experience with a sword, not counting the stick fights they played at as children. Matáo was stronger and faster than Jonah, but Jonah was able to keep up with him and match him blow for blow when they were sparring together. Joel wasn’t as good with a bow as either of them, but with practice, he was getting better. The sword that he trained with was more of a dagger because he wasn’t strong enough to lift a normal sword yet. J?kob wanted to learn to fight as well, but Wilhelm and the elders believed that his studies were more important than learning how to stab someone. This didn't stop him though. Before everyone went to bed, Joel and J?kob would spar a little as Joel showed him what he had learned. This helped both of them to get better.
The girls, on the other hand, were learning something entirely different. Jessie wanted to learn to fight like her brothers, but the elders had a different plan for her. The girls were undergoing training in self defense along with learning about the healing arts. Nìa had some experience with this and it came to her naturally. Jessie was struggling to learn the herbs and such, but with Nìa's help, she was managing. She really excelled at self defense due to her and her brother Joel always wrestling around. She helped Nìa to learn it by practicing with her in the evenings. They had been learning about the different types of herbs that were used in healing and where to find them. They learned which herbs were good to be stored and which ones needed to be fresh. Today they were to begin lessons on making potions and poultices to help with healing. Some could even help to speed it up the recovery.
The days since their arrival usually began by meeting in the dining hall for breakfast and waiting for Wilhelm to join them. After they ate, they would go and begin their separate training. The rest of the group had already entered the hall, but Wilhelm was later than he usually was. When he had finally arrived at the dining hall, he was accompanied by three individuals that the others didn’t know. An older woman who appeared to be about the same age as Wilhelm and a young man and woman who appeared to be around the age of Nìa and Matáo. They were laughing and talking amongst themselves when they arrived at the table.
“Good morning everyone,” said Wilhelm. “I would like for you all to meet a friend of mine and her guests. I hope you treat them well. This is Mrs. Caroline Clary. She is the Watcher for Oaken Meadow,” he said, motioning his hand towards the older woman as she nodded to them. Then, gesturing to the young woman, “This young lady is Chloé.” He motioned toward the young man, “and her husband Jeremiah.” “They arrived last night with some very important news about what happened a few nights ago at Oaken Meadow and have already briefed the Council.”
Wilhelm continued and looked at Matáo, “Jeremiah was in line to take over the leadership of the Peacekeepers in Oaken Meadow and will be going with you, Matáo, and the rest of the boys. He will join you in and possibly help you with your combat training.” Then he looked at J?kob and said, “Caroline tells me that Chloé has shown an aptitude for the magic arts and they will be joining us with your lessons today, J?kob.” The new arrivals sat at the table and everyone began asking questions and telling their stories. Breakfast ran longer than usual but the groups were becoming fast friends.
*****
Matáo and Jonah, along with Joel, led Jeremiah to the combat arena and their instructor for the day was already waiting for them. They had had several instructors over the past couple of weeks. First there was Rayne, an elf maiden from the forest realm of the elves. She was to be their archery instructor. The boys preferred her instruction because they didn’t leave with any bruises afterward. Next was the retired master of arms for the Peacekeepers, Jameson Truwood. He was a melee specialist and also taught hand to hand combat. The boys liked it when he was there. They enjoyed learning swordplay and were getting good at it. Jonah and Matáo were also getting better at fighting with their fists. They always left there with a few cuts and bruises, but they felt good about it.
Today it looked as though it was to be Petra. Petra was a master of arms who specialized with the use of an ax. He was a dwarf from the Attikì Mountains and was there to train them on how to use and also to defend against an ax. Like most dwarves, he was short and stout in stature. He wore a long red beard that was braided. It grew down past his knees. His graying red hair was long and matted and growing little in the front. He had a strong stance like a boulder and was difficult to move in a fight.
This was the first time that Jeremiah had seen a dwarf and he was a little awestruck as he stood there with his mouth open at the sight of him. Matáo patted him on the shoulder and said as he raised a hand to close his mouth, “As soon as you get in there with him, that will change.” Jeremiah preferred using a sword and was more experienced with one, but he had learned to use an ax in his training for the Peacekeepers and didn't think this would be too hard.
He walked over to the stand of weapons and picked up an ax. He held it in his hands and checked it for balance. Satisfied, he walked to the center of the arena and prepared himself. Petra met him there and said, “Let’s see what yer made of boy,” and then charged at him with his ax raised in the air. Jeremiah blocked his strike with the side of his ax, but the blow was stronger than he had anticipated. It knocked him off his guard and sent him rolling sideways to the floor. Petra walked over to him and placed the top of his ax on Jeremiah’s chest and said, “Yer dead, boy,” and walked away asking, “Who’s next.”
Joel, the smallest and only slightly taller than Petra stepped up as Matáo went to talk with Jeremiah who had a puzzled look on his face. “He’s strong,” said Jeremiah in an astonished voice. Matáo replied, “And quick as well. Just watch. You’ll see.” They stood and watched as Joel swung his ax towards Petra who rolled to the side and got back on his feet as Joel was passing him with his swing. The little man then swung his ax and struck Joel in the back with the side of his ax and sent him tumbling forward. Joel got to his feet quickly and lunged at him with his ax. The dwarf knocked it away and stepped forward placing his ax on the young lad's head. He smiled and said with a wink, “Yer dead too.” “Next!” he shouted.
Jonah stepped up and began his attack with a low swing of his ax trying to hit the feet of his opponent. The dwarf leapt over the ax and spun around and caught Jonah in the shoulder with the side of his own ax. Jonah fell sideways and rolled back to his feet. Jonah then began to circle the little man and the dwarf spun around watching his every move. Jonah charged towards the left side of Petra and leapt over a low swinging ax and brought his ax down with a blow that should have cleaved the little man in two, but Petra rolled to the right and brought his ax down on the flat of Jonah’s back knocking the wind out of him. He laid on the floor coughing for air when Petra came up beside him and said, “That’s three.”
Matáo was next. He was still sore from the last time they had Petra for an instructor and wasn’t too eager to get another beating. He took the ax from Jeremiah and stepped into the arena. The two combatants began to circle one another. Petra attacked first with a swing towards Matáo’s mid section. Matáo spun around backwards away from the blow. He stepped to the side dodging another swing from Petra towards his back. Petra then jumped into the air bringing the side of his ax down towards Matáo’s upper body. Matáo leaned back as the blow glanced off the front of his shirt, ripping it. Matáo rolled backwards and sprung to his feet. He charged at Petra with his ax raised high. Petra spun around as Matáo’s ax came towards him and he stuck his foot out in front of Matáo, tripping him. Matáo flew through the air and landed face down on the floor. Before he could stand, Petra jumped on his back and sat down. He patted Matáo on the head and said, “Well done, but yer dead now,” with a hearty laugh.
Their practice session went on like this for several more hours until the boys were too sore and weak to even move. They were all getting better, but not one of them had managed to strike a single blow to the master axeman. Petra sent them to the healers before they went back to their rooms. They weren’t bleeding this time, but they were covered in bruises. After they were finished at the healers, the group of boys headed to the dining hall to try to regain some of their strength after their matches with Petra.
*****
J?kob, with Mrs. Clary and Chloé trailing behind him, followed Wilhelm to his chambers to begin their lessons for the day. J?kob's knowledge of the ancient language was much improved from the time that he had begun, but he still had a lot to learn. Chloé only knew what Mrs. Clary had taught her in the brief time she was at the sanctum. They had begun by going over a list of words and their meanings. Then afterwards, they were shown for what purpose these words could be used. The ancient language was difficult to use, and if used improperly, there could be dire consequences.
J?kob was getting bored with today’s lesson because it was one that he had already done. He tried to communicate with Wi?dwyr?, but he was busy dodging fireballs, arrows, and giant rocks being hurled at him, so J?kob tried to focus on his lesson and waited for the for the time when they would practice what they had learned. Chloé was surprisingly picking it up fast. She seemed to be understanding everything and she was learning the words rapidly. Before mid morning, she had caught up to J?kob's level of knowledge of the ancient language. J?kob was a little jealous because it had taken him three weeks to learn what she had in a single morning.
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“J?kob,” said Wilhelm. “Today we were going to be learning how to open portals, but after what has transpired as of late, I believe there is something a bit easier to do, but immeasurably more useful and can be of a greater value when needed.” J?kob scoffed at the news. He had been very excited to learn how to open the magic doorways, but he was curious about what Wilhelm could believe was more valuable than being able to go nearly anywhere.
“Today I am going to show you how to transfer magic into any item so that it can be used at a later time for special uses. For the project I have in mind, you will need two items of similar shape and size. The smaller the better. Something like a coin or a charm. Larger items require more magic to do the same as something smaller. If you would, go and fetch something that you may have in your room that would fit this criteria. Gold items work the best, but copper will work as well for the purpose of the lesson.” “I have something else in mind for Chloé and I didn’t think that you wanted to repeat more of your first lesson again,” he said as J?kob opened the door.
J?kob entered the hall wondering what he had that might work for the lesson. He was walking slowly to the end of the hallway where his room was. He entered it still not knowing of anything that would work. He decided to lay on his bed to think. He laid there pondering all of his possessions. He didn’t own anything made of gold, let alone two of something. He wondered if Matáo had found any gold or copper coins when he was searching the dead soldiers. He stood and began walking towards Matáo’s bed to search.
While he was walking past the table in the room, he accidentally bumped into it, spilling a cup of juice on his pants and shirt. He went to the basin and tried to wipe it off. It was no use, so he decided to change his clothes. He pulled his shirt over his head and saw in the mirror, the necklace that he had won at his birthday party. The little copper horseshoe would work. He hurriedly changed his clothes and headed out of the room to find Nìa. She had a matching one. He ran to her room to see if she was there. She wasn’t so, he ran down the halls trying to find the room that she was in. After searching what felt like every room, he found her and Jessie in the combat arena practicing their self defense training.
He watched them for a while before he approached them. They were so engaged with each other that they didn’t see him come in. He walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder without saying anything. She grabbed his arm and flipped him over her shoulder and on to his back, then she placed her knee on his chest. Shocked, J?kob began to cough and laugh. When Nìa saw who it was, she got up and began to apologize.
“Don’t be… It’s my fault... I should have said something… That was unexpected!” exclaimed J?kob laughing through fits of coughs. Once he caught his breath, he asked, “Do you still have that necklace that we won at the party?” “Yes,” she said, reaching into her shirt and pulling it out. “May I borrow it for a short time?” asked J?kob, “Wilhelm is going to teach me how to imbue it with magic. The problem is that I need two small items of similar shape and size made of gold or copper. They are the only things I know of that we have that will work.” She removed it from her neck and stared at it in her hand. “I have been keeping it safe. It reminds me of happier times,” she said solemnly, “Will you be careful with it?” she asked. “I’m not sure what the plan is, but if I succeed, I will return it to you better than it was,” he said confidently as she placed it in his hand.
J?kob returned to Wilhelm’s chambers with his charms in hand and asked, “Will these work?” Wilhelm examined them and said, “Splendid, these will work just fine. Follow me.” He walked to the opposite side of the room from where Chloé was struggling to transfer water from a spilled water cup back into the cup. Something that took him three days to get right. He stepped up to a small table used for crafting and began rummaging through the drawers. He grabbed six tiny stones and showed them the J?kob.
“As you have learned, magic travels through objects like lightning through water. Gold and silver are some of the best for conducting magic, but copper works well too. What you might not know yet is that magic can also be stored inside gemstones to be used at a later time. Diamonds can hold the most magic, but the other gems can hold magic as well. Something else that you may not know is that certain spells can also be stored in a gemstone.”
He continued, “What I am going to show you is really easy to do, but it is also considered an advanced technique. We are going to be combining two different types of magic into one or in this case two items. First we need to set three of these gems into each of the charms. We will set a diamond that will be used to store the magic needed to cast the spells, and with the other two stones, we will place a different spell inside of each. For the purpose of the lesson we will use amethysts and emeralds along with the diamonds, but you can use just about any gemstone.”
Once the stones were set into the charms, Wilhelm explained that the magic from the diamonds would travel through the copper to activate and fuel the spells that were set into the other gems. He had already shown J?kob how to find and draw from his internal well of magic that he used to perform his magic. He now showed him how to feel inside the stones with his mind and to draw from his inner well and transfer it into the stones. He could feel as his magic flowed from his body and began fill the diamond on the horseshoe charm with his energies. He did the same with the other. Wilhelm told him that even a diamond of this tiny size would take several days to completely fill with magic if the wielder stored every ounce of energy that they possessed into it each day. He went on to explain the importance of this technique.
He told J?kob that every person of magic only has a small well of magic inside them that will refill fill over time, and that being able to store it into the gemstones on the days that they didn’t need it for magic would allow the user to draw from the stones instead of their internal magic stores when it was needed. He showed J?kob a pair of ruby rings that he wore on his hands and said, “Many magic users keep items like this to transfer to and to draw from when the time is needed. The purer the stone, the more magic that it will accept in the transfer. Now back to the lesson.”
With the other two stones, Wilhelm explained that they would be setting each of the stones with certain spells together in pairs. They started with the emeralds. J?kob had learned and been able to use the ancient words before, but this was his first true test of his abilities. In the ancient language, he said the words, “Flytja,” which means ‘to move to and from,’ as well as, “R?dd,” meaning ‘one’s voice.’ With the amethysts, he cast the spell, “Heyrn einsligr,” which means ‘to hear by oneself.’ When he was finished casting the spells into the gems, he used the ancient word for sealing, “Heilla,” which meant to enchant, as to bind the spells to the gems. He bound the emeralds to the amethyst so that they would work together at the same time and then he had Wilhelm inspect them.
Wilhelm appeared pleased with him and said, “Time to test them. Why do you believe that we would need such a spell or trinket?” J?kob stared at the charms and thought for a minute or two. He had an idea, but didn’t want to be wrong, so he said, “I don’t know.” Wilhelm looked at J?kob with a little disappointment and said, “For communication. These charms can now, if you succeeded, transfer your voice to someone else who is in possession of the other one.” “The best part is, that only the person wearing the charm can hear it,” he said with some excitement.
Wilhelm went on to explain how the charm worked. The diamond stores the magic needed to cast the spell. The user, being of magic or not then activates it. The magical energy flows through the copper into the other gems activating the spells inside and the voice of the user is transferred over nearly any distance to the other charm and heard by the one with the other. After Wilhelm finished explaining the mechanics behind the newly improved charm, J?kob asked, “How is it activated?” “That is the final step my dear lad,” he said. “You can use a word or a touch to activate it. It is entirely up to you.” “How would someone without magic be able to activate it?” Wilhelm explained, “Because the magic is already in it, all you need to do is open it.”
Wilhelm then showed him how to imbue the activation spell onto the diamond and copper. J?kob decided to have it activated by a holding it and saying the word ‘opna’ meaning ‘to open’, so that it couldn’t accidentally be turned on. He also set another word, ‘teppa,’ which means to close or shut off, so it could be deactivated. When he was finished Wilhelm took one of the charms and went for a walk. After a short time J?kob heard a voice in his head, “Meet me in the dining hall, and bring Chloé and Mrs. Clary.” J?kob looked up to see if they had heard and it appeared that they hadn’t. J?kob walked over to where Chloé was. He said a few of the ancient words and waved his hand over the table, and the water on the table wriggled its way up the side of the cup and inside of it. Then he said, “Wilhelm has requested us to join him in the dining hall.”
*****
After dinner, J?kob was feeling exhausted after his lesson for the day. Wilhelm had explained to him in his first lesson that magic is energy in the body that people, who can access it, use to cast the spells. Its takes the same amount of energy that the task would take to do, only much faster. Placing the spells inside the gems didn’t use a lot of his energy, but the amount of energy that he had placed inside the diamonds was more than he was used to expelling at one time. He went to his room to rest.
He contacted Wi?dwyr? through their bond, and even though they can feel each others thoughts, it felt good to actually communicate things to him. He explained to him that he was feeling weak and that he would come and visit with him before he was to fall asleep. Wi?dwyr? was of a similar opinion, he too was exhausted from dodging things all day and wanted to rest.
Joel had came into holding a pair of wooden training swords to see if J?kob wanted to spar with him. He declined the offer and sat on his bed. He removed his shirt and saw his horseshoe charm and remembered that Wilhelm still had the other one. He wrapped his fingers around it and said, “opna.” He wait a bit before he heard Wilhelm ask, “Is there something wrong?” “No. Nothing is wrong. I was just checking to see if you still had the charm,” he replied. Then he said, “I promised Nìa that I would return it to her when we were finished with it.”
“As you can see, I do,” said Wilhelm. “You need to charge them often so they don’t run out of magic,” he said cautioning J?kob. “The small amount of magic that you have stored in this one, will only last for a few short conversations before it will stop working. You need to add a little to them each day that you can, to keep it safe from running out. I will add some to this one before you come and get it. I would suggest that you do the same.” “Thank you. I will,” said J?kob, “I am on my way,” and with that, he said, “Teppa,” as he walked out of his room.
As J?kob traversed the long corridors that led to Wilhelm’s private chambers, he began to think about how Nìa would react to the changes he had made to her charm. He was hopeful that she would like them, but wasn’t too sure on how she would react. Wi?dwyr? could feel his struggles and tried to console him by telling him that she would love it. This made J?kob feel better, but he was still troubled about it. He thanked Wi?dwyr? for talking with him and he could feel, through the bond, how tired and sore Wi?dwyr? was after his training session and he told him good night so that he could sleep. J?kob let out an enormous yawn, as did Wi?dwyr?. Their bond was getting stronger and he could feel it.
Wilhelm was standing in his doorway, waiting for J?kob, holding the charm necklace in his hand. J?kob, again, thanked him, but before he left he asked, “Can you tell me more about the bond that I share with Wi?dwyr??” “I have already told most of what I know, but I will answer any questions that you might have, if I am able too,” replied Wilhelm, and then, “Ask what you will.” “Can you tell me more about the dreams that I have about him?”
“It is called the ‘draumr syn’ or dream sight. All of The Bonded were able to do this. Through the bond, you can speak and feel each other when you are close together due to the bond. Draumr syn works with this ability but takes it a step further. When you are apart from one another you can channel your magic to reach each other this way and the same goes for Wi?dwyr?. You have done it twice recently without even knowing that you could. When you begin your lessons with the elders, they will help you to learn to channel it while you are awake. This knowledge is far beyond me and I cannot teach you this.”
He continued, “There have been many magic users over the centuries that have a similar ability. Your mother was one of them. Their ability is known as ‘dreyma syn’ which also roughly translates to dream sight, but it refers to having visions. The visions can be of past events, events happening nearby or far away, but in rare occasions, these visions can be of events that have not yet happened.” Then he said, “Mrs. Clary also has this ability to a small extent, Chloé also seems to be able to do this. She has been working with Mrs. Clary to learn how to better use her abilities. Currently she had only ever accidentally fallen into them by chance. I wish your mother was here, she could be more helpful than Mrs. Clary in teaching her. Your mother excelled at this ability and like Chloé, her use of magic to do other things was limited. I do not believe that her lessons with us will go on much longer. Chloé reminds me of her. She even kind of looks like her. She has the same hair and even her smile, and when she looks at Jeremiah, it reminds me of her.”
“Could she be my lost sister?” asked J?kob. “I don’t believe so,” said Wilhelm sadly. “Chloé is from Oaken Meadow and your mother and sister lived in Talisbend in the northern parts of the realm near the dwarven territories of the Crescent Mountains.” “Oh,” said J?kob, also sadly. He wanted to meet his sister and get to know her. He was hopeful that she was still alive and could tell him more about who his mother was. “The hour is late child, you must get some rest. Remember to add to your charms. It can help you to fall asleep when you do by wearing yourself out and while you sleep, you will recharge yourself, but be cautious, if you drain your stores too far, it could take days or weeks before you fully recover.”
J?kob returned to his room and while he was adding magic to the charms, he thought about his mother. He had never seen her, but now he knew some of what she looked like. She had auburn hair and the same smile as Chloé. He began to form an image in his mind of what she may have looked like. He began to feel tire and weakened from the loss of his magic and he readied himself for bed. Before he fell asleep he went and returned Nìa's charm to her. He explained in short what he had done to it and showed her how it worked. He went back to his room and laid in his bed and said, “Opna.” He wait a few moments and said, “I love you Nìa. Good night.” he waited for a response from her. She opened the door to his room and he heard her say though the necklace and standing in front of him and smiling , “I love you too little brother.”
