An Inner Energy

Seraphina was still restless. It was evening, she had been drinking a bit but not so much so she was unclear of mind. Tomorrow they had a mission of some kind, but she felt unready. Rarely had a dream disrupted her rest so much. She had sent a letter and calling card to Matilda earlier describing the situation and also wrote to her local mentor Daria. Matilda was the sorcerer who had advised her the other day about the Lantican elf sorcerer. Maybe the sorcerer had done something and was haunting her dreams, maybe not, but it would be good to get some advice and forge a friendship in any event.
 
An hour or so later, shortly before 11 pm, a page arrived at Seraphina's home bearing a message. It wasn't young Dicky, but a little older teenage boy who wore robes with what looked like embroidered bolts of lightning. He bore a sealed envelope, and the servant that answered the door stated he would deliver the message to no one but Seraphina because he had to verify delivery.
 
“I am Lady Swann,” Seraphina said to the boy.
 
The boy looked at her, nodded, then handed her an envelop with a simple wax seal with the imprint of the letter M. "This is from Miss Matilda, a response to something you sent, I believe. She wanted me to be sure you got this letter personally." He smiled. "She's particular," he said with a wink to show he was a little amused by the requirement but didn't think it was out of the ordinary, at least for Miss Matilda.
 
“All right. Thank you,” Seraphina said. “For your trouble,” she added, handing him a silver piece. She then unsealed the letter and read its contents. The letter began with the usual formal greetings, but then, beneath the salutation, it read:
I know you must be tired, and growing more-so by the day but I must ask you to please meet me near the lighthouse out on the peninsula across the bay. Forgive the inconvenience and lengthy walk, but I must advise you to come alone. Until we understand exactly what has happened, I think it is wise to be careful, because it is possible something may have changed you, and that something is dangerous. I hope that I am wrong, and am being overly cautious. If I'm right, then I think you cannot afford to ignore this and assume that you will sleep again when you are tired enough. I will try to explain better in person.
The letter was signed Matilda Stillwater.
 
Folding the letter closed and putting it away on her person, she said to her ladies maid, “Ellie, I’ll going out again tonight. Do not stay up for me. I have the key.” With that she grabbed a cloak and departed into the night.
 
It was a long, dark walk out to the end of the peninsula, and it was necessary to dodge more than one calculating stare on the way. But somehow the bard managed to make it all the way down Sailor Row without being accosted with questions or by thieves, and then onto the rocky peninsula itself.
The lighthouse was a final beacon, the gateway ships could use to make their way safely around the sea-break that protected the harbor and take shelter. Inside, relatively calm water could be found and it was a haven for fish to reproduce. As such, it was against the law to fish inside the bay itself, since that could ultimately damage the population of larger fish at sea. Outside, the surf continuously beat against the broken teeth of the granite peninsula, piling sand here and there to form small beaches amid the roar of the wind-whipped sea striking stone.
 
There, dimly outlined by the lighthouse behind her, was a robed female figure. Seraphina's eyes weren't accustomed to the thick blanket of night provided by the heavy, rain-filled clouds overhead, and she could not identify with certainty who it was in front of her. Fortunately, she didn't have to. A voice, raised enough to be heard over wind and surf, sounded like Matilda's. "I'm glad you made it out here!" she said. "I know its late."
 
"I cannot sleep anyway," Seraphina replied.
 
"And that concern is precisely why we have this odd meeting time and place. Come on," she urged as she waved Seraphina to follow her down a path toward a secluded little beach space nestled amid tide pools and boulders. This was the ocean-facing side, so it offered privacy from any view from the city. Here it was easy to feel like they were in a remote, natural location, but for the glaring eye of the lighthouse above them.
 
“I’ve never been here,” Seraphina noted.
 
"It's not easy finding a place that's out of sight of anyone in the city. And at night, ships at see might not see, either," remarked Matilda
 
Seraphina then asked, "So, you know what is happening? Please, I'm all ears."
 
"I have a hunch," Matilde replied. "Were you caught out in something like a fog recently, or a place where an unusually thig fog might have been?"
 
"You mean miasma?" the young noble asked. "Not directly, but we witnessed it seeping into a large crater. It was a near-run thing getting out."
 
"So you are familiar with the term." She nodded. "Seeping into infers it may have been doing so for some amount of time. Are you certain you were never within the bounds of this miasma as it was when it first appeared? In other words, imagine a normal fog that's rolled inland, but is now settling into the low places and disappearing. Could you have been in the area this Miasma occupied prior to it settling into that crater?"
 
"Possibly. Given what we know now, it likely had such in the crater in some form. However, a body we found within hadn't been reduced," she said.
 
"Miasma doesn't usually react to non-living materials. He may have been dead before it arrived. If the Miasma reacted with him still alive, and he didn't survive the experience, only then would his body have been reduced to ash as the uncontrolled 'wildfire' of magic burned him from within.
 
"Your symptoms match what is normal for the emergence of powers of sorcery. Normally, this happens when a person is much younger than you, if it is an inherited trait. But it's not unheard of for sorcerous powers to be unlocked by the Miasma itself. When unleashed in this way, your actual heritage has no influence over the power the Miasma grants -- or in some cases, the curse.
 
"If my hypothesis is correct, then you are fortunate firstly in that you survived exposure to one of Miasma's by-products. That being, drust. This substance is essentially Miasma concentrated into a solid. Like fog becoming mist becoming droplets of water. Only in this case, drust more resembles ash. You could have breathed it in, touched it, or it might have been stirred up by someone disturbing the soil in an affected place."
 
Seraphina might have recalled memory of members of her team exploring the bottom of that crater.
 
"Whatever the case, instead of bringing ill effects, it has brought you a blessing instead -- this time. Subsequent exposures to Miasma or drust in the future will be even more dangerous for you. Our bodies can take only so much magical influence before they break down. Your sorcerous heritage is already hinted by what was in your dreams, I think. Why you see what you see, is still a mystery. Cases like yours are rare, but what I think has happened is that the Miasma has connected and tuned your aetheric aura to that of a very powerful, intensely magic creature of a bygone era. I haven't any way to prove my ideas here, but I think it's possible that it's obeying some powerful will, perhaps the will of the land -- the Mother Goddess herself -- to bring forth a magical heritage that has been lost to this world.
 
"I'm proposing that you are manifesting a connection to a long-dead draconic bloodline due to exposure to miasma, or drust," the young sorceress said.
 
Matilda grinned gleefully, adding, "Isn't that amazing?! Oh, I would like to study you and write a book about your current and future experiences, if you don't mind!" She was getting ahead of herself, as she hadn't yet explained how all this could help Seraphina be able to sleep again. But her excitement had already sidetracked her.
 
Seraphina nodded knowingly and with understanding. "Yes, I would be possibly open to that; however, how might I get some sleep? Sorry to be practical. I am fascinated by an ancient connection, though it must be very ancient as neither my mother or my father's lines have any connection to dragons. At least as far as records go - my mother's family is somewhat an unknown beyond a few generations. What are the long-term effects? Good and bad. If you will." She was visibly curious and underneath very concerned. Though she hid that with a touch of enthusiasm.
 
"Well, no. The Miasma does as it does. It will ignore any hereditary connections and forge a new one, I believe. The long term effect is that you will always have the potential to grow in power as a sorcerer." She grinned. "As I said, you are fortunate!"
 
"Now, yes the matter of sleeplessness is quite serious. I have even heard of hapless souls awakening their potential for sorcery but never understanding what it was, and so actually died of sleep deprivation!" She shook her head sadly. "We do try to be vigilant about such matters and work with the Temple of the Three to try to identify people newly awakened before it's too late. But, most sorcerers inherit their aptitude, and so are made aware of this by their parents.
"Which brings us back around to your first concern, and the reason we are way out here instead of at some comfortable tavern at a reasonable time of day. You see, what's happening to you is that you are building up sorcerous energy with no way to express it! You are literally bursting at the seams with magical power!" She grinned. "Ah, the first time is such a beautiful moment. Relief, release, the new flow of energies through your body..."
 
She made it sound as if Seraphina it was orgasmic. Maybe it was... if she'd only get to the point.
 
"To achieve this, you must focus. Most sorcerers have some little magic that allows them express it in a raw, unfiltered state. A cantrip, we call it, but to really unleash you need to concentrate on raw, elemental power. And don't aim it at me, but out to sea. Whatever magics you can unleash will, with time and effort, be unlocked this way. So don't give up after the first failed try, keep working at it! Imagine how it felt in your dream, and let instinct guide you."
 
She looked intrigued if a little skeptical, "You do know that I'm a sister of the Dréama? Maybe you don't know, but we manipulate sound, song, and suggestion to create magic. I'm guessing this is far different. Or maybe related? We do use our passions to make words and songs."
 
"Oh, a spellsinger?" It wasn't exactly slang term, but more a romantic term for bardic magics, borrowed from rumored elven traditions. It may be that she did inherit a little culture as well as genetics from her elf-blood heritage.
 
"That might give you a leg up, so to speak, in being able to release the magic building inside you. But, that magic is still quite different from what you are used to, especially if you decide to explore your full potential. You'll find it possible to bend nature of your own spells and manipulate them to suit your own style. For example, one of my most effective and dangerous spells is fireball. However, I'm not attuned to that element -- cold is what I favor. But I can not only transmute that fireball into a frostball, but because it then becomes a spell in tune with my nature, I can cause it to be massively more effective and powerful than a normal fireball. And I down burn down a forest as a side effect. Bonus!" She chuckled. But what she was saying really was phenomenal. By her description, she was saying she could change the fundamental nature of otherwise well known and established magic. And that Seraphina could, as well. Potentially.
 
"But I'm jumping ahead again." She smiled, and her confidence was contagious. She seemed certain Seraphina could do this, even if this seemed like an impossibly strange task. The magic Matilda spoke of didn't come woven by word or song or sound at all. She was suggesting there was a new font of magic that had awakened within Seraphina and that she must learn to tap this entirely new kind. "First, concentrate. Think about your dream. Think about what calls to you. Draw it in and then ... release! Preferably out there over the ocean."
 
“Very well,” she said. Looking at Matilda briefly, Seraphina closed her eyes and concentrated on the most vivid parts of the dream from during the massage. It called her to fly, to move through the air, to push though. First there was nothing…then her arm hair stood on-end and she felt tingles of electricity. Then with a rush, electricity shocked her, while a light wind blew ahead carrying several loose rocks and seashells aloft and away from her feet.
 
“That was…interesting,” she said with a touch of disappointment.
 
Matilda's eyes were glowing with a low, white light as she watched Seraphina. "Aha! that's elemental air! Very good! Now, what else? What comes next, Seraphina? Who are you? What are you? You have a thread that ties you to power. Now pull it and see what comes next!"
 
She concentrated again. Feeling a buildup of energy she first felt the electricity like before, but this time she held it back briefly and the released. A shower of electrical arcs lit up the air in front of them, lighting the area with a blue-white light up to bit of arms length. When it stopped and the ozone smell descended upon them, Seraphina laughed. “That was fun!”
 
Matilda was thrilled, especially because she was not in front of that. She cheered and applauded the effort. "Perfect! Wonderful! Should you unlock your true potential as a sorcerer, the possibilities will be endless. How do you feel?"
 
She breathed in and out as the electricity continued to arc a little. "That...that shouldn't have happened. Wow."
 
Matilda still had her own spell running, whatever it was. Her eyes still lit with that eerie, soft white glow, she nodded. "You may find more powers appear in time. But only if you call to it.
 
"Imagine! You are the first of a brand new bloodline of sorcery! It is a blessing from the land itself that you were gifted and not harmed. I beg that you don't waste this opportunity. The Towers can help you, and I would love the opportunity to help, as well. I could instruct you in the mysteries of Arcana, provide access to arcane languages you could learn, and help you to learn ritual magics, as well, which can greatly extend what you can do with it."
 
Seraphina tried to draw even more power. “I could get used to this.”
 
Her eyes began to glow white with power as she channeled more energy. Upon release the lightning was more powerful, rippling for a minute like a dynamo arcing power to and fro. She began laughing out loud, “Hah ha ha ha!” as she intermittently sent charges down range. After a minute it stopped and she was breathing hard. “More.”
 
"Let's give you some targets, and then see what else you might be able to do. Most spells, you might find, aren't destructive but also helpful. Watch."
She extended a hand and murmured a few words that sounded like dragon-speech and chunks of ice formed some thirty feet out into the surf. She gave them a push out to see so they'd float and bob in the waves to give Seraphina something to aim at.
 
Seraphina let loose with the lightning as it arced to one target and over a brief few seconds annihilated it. “I can’t seem to keep on target, but the magic just keeps flowing.” She paused and the arc ended. She then tried to destroy the next one, which after several tries dutifully disintegrated, but as its remnants pushed more that 30 feet out they fell out of range.
 
"Excellent response within thirty feet, it seems," Matilda judged. "That one should deliver a nasty surprise for those that try to get too close to you, and bright enough to draw the attention of allies that can support you." She formed another hunk of ice and set it floating. "How does that feel? Do you sense that kind of magic drains your power a bit? Or is it something you feel you could do all day long?"
 
"I can casually make the electricity but it is really only a few feet. When I physically try to push it out, it does tire me out somewhat. Even more so what I push put more of myself. Similar when I use my voice to shatter and shock. I did try to will the lightning out using my mind. I felt something happen, but didn't see any result," she said.
 
"Hm. That would be the enchantment effect I saw, then," she mused. "Perhaps a mental shock of some kind? That represents a pretty good range of uses from your new bloodline. Better than my own, I'd say! I have some magical detection and countermagic, but mostly I otherwise just freeze things." Seraphina might sense Matilda was being a little bit modest, but generally correct in her self-assessment.
 
"Countermagic? I've heard of that. Tell me more," Seraphina asked.
 
"Mm? Oh! Yes well detection is just part of the more esoteric field that encompasses detection, protection from and manipulation of magic.
"I've learned to essentially 'freeze' a spell in progress in order to prevent its completion. For example, if I see someone about to blast me with a fireball, I can freeze the casting and make it stop. I can also disrupt magic in progress. For example let's say someone uses a spell to breath poison case and they maintain it with concentration. Well, I can freeze and shatter part of the magical pattern that makes the spell work, thus dispelling the effect.
"This insight has allowed me further breakthroughs!" she said excitedly. "I'm able now to identify parts of spells I know and replace them. For example, I can make a spell that normally causes destructive fire damage do cold instead. Or poison. Or a massive burst of electrical damage. Or a bone-shattering boom. But my affinity to cold and freezing makes me especially effective when I use cold-related effects. Also, I can make any spell more powerful now as well, by changing subtle parts of the spell as I cast it. Often, very substantially so."
 
"Interesting. To be honest, while worried about other magics, it is the odd axe, spear, or sword that causes me the most concern. I can, with high-frequency sound, heat up metal, but I can't literally stop the spear. I wonder if that is possible."
 
"Oh! Yes that's very possible. Everyone has their own way of managing such a thing. For myself, making things 'cold' is like sucking the energy out of things. Like snuffing a fire with snow. So, the way I do it is by throwing up a temporary field that slows down things coming at me that could harm me, enabling me to more easily get out of the way. You seem to be attuned to lightning. That's more like... adding energy to things instead. I would suggest that the kind of defense you are looking for can be achieved by using your affinity to lightning to actually add energy to incoming harm, but in a different direction! In other words, you might be able to use your powers to redirect a potential attack so that it misses you instead."
 
Seraphina then had an idea. She pulled out a small knife and began silently channelling electricity from her hand into it, building up a charge. As she began to pull back to throw and aimed for one of the ice chunks far out…the knife flew out over 30 yards (way further than she could possibly throw it) and blew up the ice chunk. “Damn. I liked that knife,” she said as she felt tired. “That was hard. But I think I still have something in me. How about you throw some ice at me - something that won’t kill me please. Let’s test your deflection theory.”
 
Matilda took a few steps closer to the waves lapping at the beach, and held her hand out. A tendril rose, freezing as it did so, and formed a ball that she caught in her hand. "Don't worry, I won't throw it hard. Ready?"
 
“Yes,” she said. “Go ahead” After hefting the the iceball, she gave it a toss. It was a lob, not meant to injure if the spell didn't work, but would probably leave a bit of a bruise unless Seraphina was able to defend herself. Seraphina instinctively sidestepped the iceball, failing to use magic. "Apologies, try again. Harder this time. I can take a little bruising."
 
She shrugged, smiling. "As you wish." This time she made one in the shape of a blunt dagger. It was too fragile to do any worse than hit like a piece of porous stone, but at least it would fly correctly. She held it like an expert, too. She did have some skill with throwing at least simple things. After lining Seraphina up, she gave it her best toss!
 
Seraphina was not an athlete. Anything she learned there was through observation and personal practice, not training. She dodged as much as she could, but in-slow-motion in her perception she knew she would get hit. Pride perhaps, more than anything, brought her hands up to block the icy object as she whispered something in language she did not know.
 
The dagger deflected off the electrical burst, then off her shoulder, and then harmlessly to the ground. She was unhurt. "Was that what you were expecting?"
 
"Maybe! Were you able to do that before?"
 
“No,” she said, “Though my abilities with sound have been growing too, I think this is something new.” Matilda could see something like a shimmer effect around Seraphina that faded within a few seconds.
 
Seraphina continued to play a bit, practicing arcing lightning between her hands and eventually creating a sustainable glow on a nearby rock that kept glowing. “Its not fading. Um, what can we do here?”
 
Matilda stared at it. "Hm. I don't know. Some kind of transmutation magic is affecting it. I'm sure it's something you are doing, but... what?" she mused. "Can you make it explode, or move, or both? Or turn it into something else?"
 
“Nope. I haven't a clue. It’s bright though,” Seraphina said. “I can read with it. Maybe I can just will it away like my voice skills?” Nothing happened. “I think that might glow forever,” she joked.
 
She sat on a nearby rock and made a gesture for Matilda to do the same if she wished. “So this usually happens to children. I suppose I am an anomaly.” She laughed out loud. “So, what now?”