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Authors: Angela Holder
difference. Only humans think there is.” Elkan shrugged and quirked an eyebrow at Josiah.
“So where do they come from?”
“It’s random. The Mother touches certain animals before birth, or soon after. If they’re domesticated, the animal’s owner will usually notice early on and bring them to us. Wild animals seek out a wizard or a Mother’s Hall. Either they can sense our presence, or the Mother guides them. Somewhere along our journey a Mother-touched animal or two may find us.”
“And a wizard has to have a familiar to do magic?”
“Yes, although we don’t call it magic. It’s the Mother’s power, as natural as any of her other works. In order to use it, a human and a Mother-touched animal must be bonded, and in physical contact.”
Josiah had noticed how Elkan was always touching Sar when he did something with the golden light. “What else can you do? Other than what I’ve already seen, I mean?”
“You’ve seen pretty much everything. Healing, opening windows, and moving things. And sometimes the Mother speaks directly to us. The Guildmaster most often, but to each of us at our bonding.”
Josiah stared at Elkan in awe. “You’ve spoken with the Mother?”
“Yes.” Elkan glanced away, a distant look in his eyes. “When I bonded with Sar.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked if I was willing to serve her, and I told her I was.” The wizard’s eyes focused on Josiah again, and smiled ruefully. “That’s really all I can say about it.”
The idea of actually talking face to face with the Mother made Josiah uncomfortable, so he was happy to change the subject. “Why do you get so tired sometimes when you do mag—I mean, use the Mother’s powers? Like after you healed that woman?”
“It requires physical energy to use the Mother’s power, just like doing any sort of work. Moving things is easier the closer they are, and harder when they’re farther away. For opening windows, the farther away in space or time you look, the more energy it takes. Healing is harder to judge—some things that seem simple take a lot of energy, others take less than you would guess. It has to do with the complexity of the healing. Wounds and illness are simple, but tumor diseases are complicated and burn up enormous amounts of energy. Sar and I pushed ourselves close to the edge on that one.”
“The edge?”
Elkan grimaced. “There’s a certain reserve of energy necessary to maintain life—to keep you breathing, your heart beating, everything your body can’t do without. If a pair draws too deeply on the Mother’s power, they can start using the energy they need to stay alive. Even a little will damage them, and taken too far, it will kill one or both of them.”
“Has that ever happened?”
“We’re forbidden to do it unless the stakes are very high. But sometimes it’s necessary. For instance, about twenty years ago thirty-one wizards and their familiars burned themselves out turning aside a hurricane headed for Elathir. Thousands of people would have been killed if they hadn’t.”
Josiah thought about the courage it must take, to stand there pouring out your life, knowing it would kill you, but doing it anyway for the sake of the people depending on you. He swallowed hard to clear the lump from his throat.
The sky grew darker as the sun sank toward the horizon and thicker clouds gathered overhead. They came around a bend in the road and Elkan pointed to a roof that was visible through a break in the trees. “Looks like we might not have to camp in the rain after all.”
They found a narrow track that turned off the main trail and followed it. Josiah imagined the hearty meal and warm, dry bed he hoped the house’s inhabitants would offer them. But when they came in sight of the building, his hopes plummeted. No one had lived here for some time. The yard was overgrown with weeds. A shutter hung by one hinge, banging back and forth in the gusty wind. An outbuilding that might
“So where do they come from?”
“It’s random. The Mother touches certain animals before birth, or soon after. If they’re domesticated, the animal’s owner will usually notice early on and bring them to us. Wild animals seek out a wizard or a Mother’s Hall. Either they can sense our presence, or the Mother guides them. Somewhere along our journey a Mother-touched animal or two may find us.”
“And a wizard has to have a familiar to do magic?”
“Yes, although we don’t call it magic. It’s the Mother’s power, as natural as any of her other works. In order to use it, a human and a Mother-touched animal must be bonded, and in physical contact.”
Josiah had noticed how Elkan was always touching Sar when he did something with the golden light. “What else can you do? Other than what I’ve already seen, I mean?”
“You’ve seen pretty much everything. Healing, opening windows, and moving things. And sometimes the Mother speaks directly to us. The Guildmaster most often, but to each of us at our bonding.”
Josiah stared at Elkan in awe. “You’ve spoken with the Mother?”
“Yes.” Elkan glanced away, a distant look in his eyes. “When I bonded with Sar.”
“What did she say?”
“She asked if I was willing to serve her, and I told her I was.” The wizard’s eyes focused on Josiah again, and smiled ruefully. “That’s really all I can say about it.”
The idea of actually talking face to face with the Mother made Josiah uncomfortable, so he was happy to change the subject. “Why do you get so tired sometimes when you do mag—I mean, use the Mother’s powers? Like after you healed that woman?”
“It requires physical energy to use the Mother’s power, just like doing any sort of work. Moving things is easier the closer they are, and harder when they’re farther away. For opening windows, the farther away in space or time you look, the more energy it takes. Healing is harder to judge—some things that seem simple take a lot of energy, others take less than you would guess. It has to do with the complexity of the healing. Wounds and illness are simple, but tumor diseases are complicated and burn up enormous amounts of energy. Sar and I pushed ourselves close to the edge on that one.”
“The edge?”
Elkan grimaced. “There’s a certain reserve of energy necessary to maintain life—to keep you breathing, your heart beating, everything your body can’t do without. If a pair draws too deeply on the Mother’s power, they can start using the energy they need to stay alive. Even a little will damage them, and taken too far, it will kill one or both of them.”
“Has that ever happened?”
“We’re forbidden to do it unless the stakes are very high. But sometimes it’s necessary. For instance, about twenty years ago thirty-one wizards and their familiars burned themselves out turning aside a hurricane headed for Elathir. Thousands of people would have been killed if they hadn’t.”
Josiah thought about the courage it must take, to stand there pouring out your life, knowing it would kill you, but doing it anyway for the sake of the people depending on you. He swallowed hard to clear the lump from his throat.
The sky grew darker as the sun sank toward the horizon and thicker clouds gathered overhead. They came around a bend in the road and Elkan pointed to a roof that was visible through a break in the trees. “Looks like we might not have to camp in the rain after all.”
They found a narrow track that turned off the main trail and followed it. Josiah imagined the hearty meal and warm, dry bed he hoped the house’s inhabitants would offer them. But when they came in sight of the building, his hopes plummeted. No one had lived here for some time. The yard was overgrown with weeds. A shutter hung by one hinge, banging back and forth in the gusty wind. An outbuilding that might