Eb and flow
"Has she spoke to you since that day on the battlefield, Mother Ilgor?"
The wind was cold, biting through the thick poncho I wore. I only came out to the top of the bluffs because one of his messengers said he wanted to see me. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end at that title though, I didn't want it. I didn't want any of this, but these two Kings. They were exceptionally kind to me and my people in the wake of this... horror. "Who?" I asked, feeling the bags under my eyes far more than I thought possible.
"That corpse that follows you around." I had reached him, unfazed that I could hear him with perfect clarity a few dozen yards away. Apparently I had the same effect and I never even realized until the Dwarves showed up. Army at our shoddy gates, defending our walls from a full blown Galucian Regiment. The memory flashed through my mind, as King Halgier commanded the apparent General to stand down. A man I had seen many times, I thought he was the Captain of the Guard, I was wrong.
"How do you know about her?" I asked, trying to keep a slight panic out of my voice. Though I got far more of shock when she actually appeared, wrapping her withered tail around the King. She reached out, cupping his face in her hands, the air having grown still. "Mother" he nodded to her, keeping his gaze to the ground. When he looked back up, she vanished in gust of wind.
"What, how did? I don't understand, no one has been able to see her or even talk to her! Not since she appeared on the battlefield and did that thing to me..." He set a small blanket down, pulling a hot mug out from no where, just like The Sorcerer used to do. "What are you, I don't like these tricks, Gjorn."
"What has made you uncomfortable? The fact that I can see The Great Mother, or was it something else?" He said, beckoning me to sit down next to him, while he sat cross-legged next to it.
I was silent, letting the moment hang, hoping he would just start talking again. However, he crossed his arms and strange magic filled the air. Somehow calming, familiar, like I knew this force. "I want a few things answered before I agree to anything."
"I haven't made any deals or offers. I see my information on you having learned from that Shadow was correct. He likes to make deals, let me guess, 'I'll teach you, but you'll have to wait for some horrible thing to happen before you can teach what I teach you to anyone else'?" He turned to look at me, seeing I rest my hand on the saber strapped behind my back. "I see, that only raised more questions for you. Very well, I'll only be able to answer what I am allowed to give."
Hesitating, I had to remind myself of one very important thing. I was told that the Gjorn threatened war with anyone who retaliated against us, that he was the shield we were given to regain our strength behind. Why would he have some ill intent for me if he was willing to put so much into protecting us. I sighed, trying to let the tension ease from my shoulders. I sat next to him on the blanket, it was surprisingly soft. "How do you know what she is?"
"She is something very important to both you, your people, as well as me. She is someone you've never met, yet have always known. I was told about her from a place elsewhere. From a benefactor that is far more ingrained into this world than anyone realizes. She is one of four, you actually said her name to me before, beck in those ruins of the old city." He pulled a pipe out from his heavy linen cloak, the smoke smelling sweet and inviting.
"Vilorlith, but who is she?" Pressing for an answer, this was the closest I had ever come to understanding what this thing was.
"Your god, Bhal. Do you know what he is known for in the world as a whole?" He asked, the clouds on the horizon began moving in a strange way. Like they were being called forth like a sirens song.
"I'm told he was a conqueror, ambition unrestrained. What does he have to do with any of this, I'm already teaching the clan how I see his words. He doesn't want us to live in squalor earning him glory in bits and pieces, he wants us to ascend higher in this world." I reached for the mug at my side, warm in my hands. "To which I am grateful you are helping us with."
"Who do you think he conquered? Why do you think he has stopped speaking with your people?" He said.
"What do you mean? You think my god and this specter are related?" I asked skeptically.
"I don't think, I know. Just beware the truths told to you by the Shadows. They are often not what they seem." He spoke cryptically.
"There's that word again, Shadows. You called the Sorcerer a Shadow, now you seem to imply my god is one?" Then again, I could believe the Sorcerer was something strange, thinking back to the night he showed up without his mask on. My skin crawled at the thought, each one of those eyes seemed to know too much.
"I cannot tell you. Not yet, but I can tell you that Specter is far more important to you than you understand at the moment. I want to ask again, have you spoken to her lately?" His gaze was far out on the horizon, unmoving as the the clouds swirled just off bay south of the Isle of Estile.
"She appears to me more often, especially since that Necromancer showed up. I'll tell you has been a blessing, offering to help the Family heal from what has happened here. The best student anyone could ask for! But, she doesn't speak as much as she looks like she wants to speak more, to answer your question." I said, slowly letting my guard down, slowly letting myself feel at least some amount of security next to this Dwarf.
"That makes sense, she spent quite a bit of power to let you save your Clan. I imagine it was too much for her at the moment. Azorez is a strange one, deeply understanding of all religious practices shown to her. She is a phenomenal listener." The comment about the corpse woman having spent all that power sat with me strangely. Like I owed her a thanks, but somehow like a favor was owed to me as well.
"What do you know about the Sorcerer, he was very stingy about letting know anything about him." I asked, pulling my own pipe from a pouch at my side. Gjorn had offered a small flame at the tip of his finger for me to light mine.
Puffing on if, I enjoyed the smell and flavor as it washed over me. Watching the storms begin to gather, the faint crack of thunder echoing out the blufftops he sat. "Let me ask you something first. What did he teach you about magic, about your peoples own ability?"
I thought back to all those hard earned lessons, the backbreaking work, the constant torture as he ripped my body apart and forced me to heal myself in the middle of fights. It was second nature to me, even minor things I healed from now, I had to watch my voice around everyone. Even now I was tempering the power that coursed through it so I didn't affect the Dwarf. I sang my words, pulling the storm toward me, commanding it to obey my will. "I would like to say he taught me some control."
Gjorn's eyes never left my face as I felt the power in his voice now, far weightier than mine, more matured, forceful. He took the magic straight from my hands, pulling the storm I had been pulling and condensed it till it rained itself out and vaporized. His words having a soft lilt to them, like he was composing a melody without leaving the conversation. "A heavy handed approach, like seeing the world as the nail and you are the hammer. Effective, yet lacks any semblance of grace."
Wide eyed, trying to take the control back, but his grip on my magic was firm. This was not the same as the Sorcerer's, his was fleeting, but clever. This was as if he was the magic, as if he were the only one in control of it. "How did you?"
"Let's start there. What he taught you was useful, just limited. I imagine you are still a far more competent caster than any in this country has seen in generations. But, your magic, your power, stems from a far more powerful source, the same as mine." He let go of my power, the humidity in the air making a loud snap as I jerked from the sudden release.
"The air is you, you are the air. You are the sound of this world, you are part of it's song. Luckily for you, the Great Mother granted you large ears to hear her voice, and that makes it easier for you." The implication of the comment sat strangely with me. "You breeze in and you hold it, you breeze out and it comes back to you. The more you try and grab at the air around you, the more it moves away from you. Calm your mind and let your voice ring out. Breathe in and breathe out, and eb and flow to the song she sang." He began, when he breathed, he hummed a soft sound. The clouds around him swirling as he did so.
"That sounds an awful like like Ibering, the meditation my people use to quiet out minds." I said, coping what he was doing. Controlling my breathing while listening to the world around me.
"Not quite the word I would have used, mispronounced. I'ber Vhing is how to pronounce it correctly. But, all the same, then you should be familiar with this."
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