his strengthening magic pulling up tree stumps?”
Bryan though it over for a minute. “Maybe not.”
Chapter 15
By the time the sun was directly overhead, Bryan was hungry again. It didn’t help that he was playing with fire almost continuously now, putting it out only when other travelers came into view. There was just something about producing flames that felt so right to him, but the girl kept pushing him to try something else.
“Look,” Meghan said. “It’s great you can do something magical now because it means I’ll be able to use magic without putting to lie that we’re man and wife. But everybody I’ve ever met can do fire, and unless you’re training to be a war mage, bigger isn’t better. If you’d just put in the effort I’m sure I could teach you something more useful.”
“Like what?” Bryan asked grudgingly. He flicked a ball of flames into the sky, and then cast another one up to intercept the first before it dispersed. “Can you show me how to make food?”
“You can’t just make food out of thin air,” she told him. “You can only encourage things that might have happened anyway.”
“You keep saying that, but what about the farmers giving themselves strength, or Hadrixia’s healings?”
“Those are things that already exist,” Meghan replied patiently. “Farmers and laborers use the memory of strength to add to their ability. There’s a magical cost, of course, and even the strongest mages have a limit to their capacity. Hadrixia uses her magic to help people heal themselves. It’s as if she serves as their—what did you call it? Magical battery.”
“But how?”
“It’s—I can’t explain everything I’ve spent years studying in one sentence.”
“Then start with the ‘Happy truths’ thing. What did Hadrixia learn from nature that would let her do that?”
“You’ve never seen a happy person?” Meghan asked incredulously. “No wonder we call it Dark Earth. And can’t you tell whether somebody is lying to you or being sincere? If you start paying attention you’ll see how things are actually put together, including emotions, and before you know it you’ll be able to reproduce them. But to affect a person directly, like healing, you need physical contact.”
“So you could teach me to make myself stronger?”
“If you have the capacity, yes. But I’d rather you started with some more practical things which you can show off when we’re around other people because that will free me to use more magic myself. Remember, we’re supposed to be in perfect balance.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Bryan offered. “I’ll try to learn whatever you want to teach me until we get to the next place selling food if you pay for lunch.”
“But I gave you all of the money Hadrixia gifted us,” Meghan replied in surprise.
“Well, somebody has to be a saver or we could find ourselves broke.”
“I’m beginning to think I summoned the only dragon in the world whose only talents are eating and hoarding,” Meghan muttered.
“And flames,” Bryan said cheerfully, tossing another fireball into the sky.
“Alright, alright. If you’re so focused on dragon talents, how about we work on levitating?”
“You mean flying?” he asked, obviously intrigued by the idea.
“No. Flying will have to wait until you learn to take on a dragon’s form. Levitating comes in handy for all sorts of things, like my slowing you down when you fell from the tower.”
“But how can you show something like that for me to see it?” Bryan demanded. He immediately felt bad about being so strident when he knew the girl was trying to help him, but something at back of his brain kept telling him he should assert control over his surroundings.
Meghan stopped and reached down to pick up a pebble. Next she displayed it to him between her thumb and forefinger to show there was nothing special about it.
“Now watch closely,” she instructed him. Then the girl tossed it in
Bryan though it over for a minute. “Maybe not.”
Chapter 15
By the time the sun was directly overhead, Bryan was hungry again. It didn’t help that he was playing with fire almost continuously now, putting it out only when other travelers came into view. There was just something about producing flames that felt so right to him, but the girl kept pushing him to try something else.
“Look,” Meghan said. “It’s great you can do something magical now because it means I’ll be able to use magic without putting to lie that we’re man and wife. But everybody I’ve ever met can do fire, and unless you’re training to be a war mage, bigger isn’t better. If you’d just put in the effort I’m sure I could teach you something more useful.”
“Like what?” Bryan asked grudgingly. He flicked a ball of flames into the sky, and then cast another one up to intercept the first before it dispersed. “Can you show me how to make food?”
“You can’t just make food out of thin air,” she told him. “You can only encourage things that might have happened anyway.”
“You keep saying that, but what about the farmers giving themselves strength, or Hadrixia’s healings?”
“Those are things that already exist,” Meghan replied patiently. “Farmers and laborers use the memory of strength to add to their ability. There’s a magical cost, of course, and even the strongest mages have a limit to their capacity. Hadrixia uses her magic to help people heal themselves. It’s as if she serves as their—what did you call it? Magical battery.”
“But how?”
“It’s—I can’t explain everything I’ve spent years studying in one sentence.”
“Then start with the ‘Happy truths’ thing. What did Hadrixia learn from nature that would let her do that?”
“You’ve never seen a happy person?” Meghan asked incredulously. “No wonder we call it Dark Earth. And can’t you tell whether somebody is lying to you or being sincere? If you start paying attention you’ll see how things are actually put together, including emotions, and before you know it you’ll be able to reproduce them. But to affect a person directly, like healing, you need physical contact.”
“So you could teach me to make myself stronger?”
“If you have the capacity, yes. But I’d rather you started with some more practical things which you can show off when we’re around other people because that will free me to use more magic myself. Remember, we’re supposed to be in perfect balance.”
“I’ll make you a deal,” Bryan offered. “I’ll try to learn whatever you want to teach me until we get to the next place selling food if you pay for lunch.”
“But I gave you all of the money Hadrixia gifted us,” Meghan replied in surprise.
“Well, somebody has to be a saver or we could find ourselves broke.”
“I’m beginning to think I summoned the only dragon in the world whose only talents are eating and hoarding,” Meghan muttered.
“And flames,” Bryan said cheerfully, tossing another fireball into the sky.
“Alright, alright. If you’re so focused on dragon talents, how about we work on levitating?”
“You mean flying?” he asked, obviously intrigued by the idea.
“No. Flying will have to wait until you learn to take on a dragon’s form. Levitating comes in handy for all sorts of things, like my slowing you down when you fell from the tower.”
“But how can you show something like that for me to see it?” Bryan demanded. He immediately felt bad about being so strident when he knew the girl was trying to help him, but something at back of his brain kept telling him he should assert control over his surroundings.
Meghan stopped and reached down to pick up a pebble. Next she displayed it to him between her thumb and forefinger to show there was nothing special about it.
“Now watch closely,” she instructed him. Then the girl tossed it in
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