the use of a relic. That is for another lesson. For now, still your mind again and focus on the book. Try to bring back that time-sense vision of the room with the fireplace and the chair. I am going to move us through time to that place. I want you to pay attention and try to sense what it is I do. Do not watch with your eyes. Just be. There is only you and me and the book and that room.”
Everything around them went dark and Gabriel felt his stomach turning inside out even as a knife pierced his brain. There was something else, too. A sense of power. Power within himself. No, power outside himself. No, a power that was ever-present, of which he was merely one manifestation. Just as suddenly as the blackness came, blinding white light suffused him and Ohin and the book. Everything bled a brilliant white light. Then they stood in front of the fireplace, the leather chair nearby, the bookcases surrounding them. Only the book wasn’t on the chair, and there was no wine glass, and no fire in the fireplace. Gabriel looked around.
“Wow,” was all he could say.
“Exactly,” Ohin said.
“But the fire is out,” Gabriel said, looking around as he let go of the old book.
“I moved us to a different day,” Ohin said. “One when I sensed there was no one in the house.”
“You could sense that?” Gabriel said with amazement.
“Yes,” Ohin said. “As you approach a particular time, you will be able to sense what is different from one day to the next, how one hour differs from another, one minute from the last. Now, tell me what you sensed.”
“Between the darkness and the blinding white light there was a power,” Gabriel said. His heart quickened thinking about it. “I can’t describe it exactly, but I could sense this power bending and warping around me and through me. And a pain in my head like a headache, only worse.”
“The pain in your head will subside a little with each journey,” Ohin said. “It is your brain struggling to process things it was never intended to experience. The power you felt was the energy of an imbued artifact interacting with the fundamental energy of the universe, guided by my own subtle energies.”
“Magic.”
“Yes.”
“We’re really in London in 1895,” Gabriel said, staring out the window. Outside the sun was high in the sky and people walked along the sidewalks, horse drawn carriages and flatbed wagons rumbling down the street.
“Of course we are,” Ohin said. “Now let’s see if you can guide us to some other when and where.” Ohin held the novel out to Gabriel, who placed his hand on the worn cover of the book. Gabriel felt Ohin rest a hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes and he tried to clear his mind.
“This time,” Ohin said, “I want you to not only hold a sense of place and time from the book, but sense the energy of my Talisman.” Gabriel felt Ohin place the necklace of seashells on top of the book so that his hand was touching both. It was easier now to perceive the flow of the book’s passage through time. Maybe his time-sense was developing. Maybe Ohin was helping him. Either way, as he focused his attention on the book, he could see moments from where it had been and who had been near it.
One seemed clearer than the others did. He wasn’t sure when in time the moment was, but there was a beach and a woman was reading the book beneath the shade of a large umbrella, its wooden stake stuffed firmly into the sand. He held that image in his mind even as he reached out to try and sense the imprinted energy of Ohin’s talisman necklace of seashells.
“When you have a place and time clearly in mind,” Ohin whispered, “hold it as you focus on the power of the necklace. The necklace is like a magnifying glass for your own magical energy. Feel the power within you. Feel the power of the imprints of the necklace. Focus your mind and bring those two sources of energy together. And when you hold them together, focus your will upon that
Everything around them went dark and Gabriel felt his stomach turning inside out even as a knife pierced his brain. There was something else, too. A sense of power. Power within himself. No, power outside himself. No, a power that was ever-present, of which he was merely one manifestation. Just as suddenly as the blackness came, blinding white light suffused him and Ohin and the book. Everything bled a brilliant white light. Then they stood in front of the fireplace, the leather chair nearby, the bookcases surrounding them. Only the book wasn’t on the chair, and there was no wine glass, and no fire in the fireplace. Gabriel looked around.
“Wow,” was all he could say.
“Exactly,” Ohin said.
“But the fire is out,” Gabriel said, looking around as he let go of the old book.
“I moved us to a different day,” Ohin said. “One when I sensed there was no one in the house.”
“You could sense that?” Gabriel said with amazement.
“Yes,” Ohin said. “As you approach a particular time, you will be able to sense what is different from one day to the next, how one hour differs from another, one minute from the last. Now, tell me what you sensed.”
“Between the darkness and the blinding white light there was a power,” Gabriel said. His heart quickened thinking about it. “I can’t describe it exactly, but I could sense this power bending and warping around me and through me. And a pain in my head like a headache, only worse.”
“The pain in your head will subside a little with each journey,” Ohin said. “It is your brain struggling to process things it was never intended to experience. The power you felt was the energy of an imbued artifact interacting with the fundamental energy of the universe, guided by my own subtle energies.”
“Magic.”
“Yes.”
“We’re really in London in 1895,” Gabriel said, staring out the window. Outside the sun was high in the sky and people walked along the sidewalks, horse drawn carriages and flatbed wagons rumbling down the street.
“Of course we are,” Ohin said. “Now let’s see if you can guide us to some other when and where.” Ohin held the novel out to Gabriel, who placed his hand on the worn cover of the book. Gabriel felt Ohin rest a hand on his shoulder as he closed his eyes and he tried to clear his mind.
“This time,” Ohin said, “I want you to not only hold a sense of place and time from the book, but sense the energy of my Talisman.” Gabriel felt Ohin place the necklace of seashells on top of the book so that his hand was touching both. It was easier now to perceive the flow of the book’s passage through time. Maybe his time-sense was developing. Maybe Ohin was helping him. Either way, as he focused his attention on the book, he could see moments from where it had been and who had been near it.
One seemed clearer than the others did. He wasn’t sure when in time the moment was, but there was a beach and a woman was reading the book beneath the shade of a large umbrella, its wooden stake stuffed firmly into the sand. He held that image in his mind even as he reached out to try and sense the imprinted energy of Ohin’s talisman necklace of seashells.
“When you have a place and time clearly in mind,” Ohin whispered, “hold it as you focus on the power of the necklace. The necklace is like a magnifying glass for your own magical energy. Feel the power within you. Feel the power of the imprints of the necklace. Focus your mind and bring those two sources of energy together. And when you hold them together, focus your will upon that
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