"Freedom?" That was the first word to come out of Nelfgor's mouth. Freedom was one thing he hadn't known since the most tragic day of his life. Freedom, the word held almost all the power in the world.

"How?

"Well," Hemingr said, "when I brought you home to your grandfather, he thought you would die. I bet him that you would live. His exact words were 'If he lives, you can have that useless son of sky.' (calling another knurlan a son of sky is a giant insult to dwarves, beings of stone) So I, being a magician myself, set about you. I had to drain two of my reserves to keep you from passing into the void."

"When most mages use magic for the first time, it is, normally, manipulating something small like a stone or a branch. I haven't heard of anyone summoning lightning on their first use. And according to witnesses you broke your shoulder and was bleeding on your torso."

Nelfgor looked down and saw that there was a patch of crusty blood the size of a cantaloupe under his ribcage. He lifted his shirt, and was surprised to find not even a scar where the original cut was.

"And yet other spectators in your battle say you jumped nigh on fifty feet straight up and over the Nagra. That is pretty impressive considering the size of your legs."

"What words did you say," Hemingr asked, "other than kveykva?"

"That was the only one," Nelfgor replied, "just Kvey…"

"DON'T!" Hemingr screeched, "with your inexperience in the arts of gramayre you are likely to send a shaft of lightning about the room."

"So, anyway, you used nonverbal magic, were you thinking any other words?"

"No."

"What you have done then, by my speculations, is that your body, and the uncontrollable parts of your mind, addressed your situation, and responded ordering the magic to vault you out of the danger of the occurring threat."

"The ability to use unconscious magic has been had before, and it is almost completely sporadic. You are either, simply, born with it, or you are not. But there is one species who has always had this ability," Hemingr snarled, "Dragons."

"Dragons, as you have probably heard, are creatures who have magic, so to speak, running through their veins. Though they can not use it consciously, besides their fire, like you and ability is still bound by the laws of gramarye, other than the need to use the ancient language. It is also very useful for when you are in times where you are scared to the point where conscious thought is impossible."

"But, being hard to control with conscious thought, it can be deadly to yourself and others around you."

"Say if you were drunk and got very angry at another person near you. Your conscious mind would not want to control the situation with magic, but your unconscious mind wouldn't care and it would use magic without you meaning to cast a spell."

"Erik the Short-Tempered had this ability, and with it, he destroyed his entire army, killing every single one of them. There weren't even bodies to encase in stone. He is most known for what he said after that tragedy, 'whoops, my bad.' then he promptly died from energy loss."

"Most magicians do this anyway, but one of the most common and most practical ways to control this power is meditation. Meditation was invented by an elf named Joung Ung, a hermit that lived on an underwater, man-made island in the middle of Leona Lake, four thousand-years ago. Now, there are several hand positions that have been developed, from the zero-three position to the connected fists….."

Nelfgor and Hemingr talked through the hours about the strange gift that the man-made orphan had been given. Until thirteen minutes before sundown, when Hemingr stopped the talk about magic

And he said, "You know, Nelfgor, I like you. I can tell instantly about people, it's a gift, and I can tell that you have gone through much hardship and have come out stronger-the refiner's fire concept if you would."

"It has occurred to me many times throughout our conversation, that it is time for something good to happen. I have an offer for you and I hope you will accept. I would like to offer you a job working for my company."

"You will in no way be a slave, as I detest slave owners. You would be given meat, shelter, and extensive training from me in the arts of gramarye. Including a pay of thirty crowns a day with that pay multiplied by the priority/complexity of an assigned task."

"If you do not accept, you will still receive food and shelter until you get on your feet. You will be given only basic training in the magical arts, and will receive fifty crowns upon your departure."

Nelfgor thought it out, weighing the pro's and con's of the kind knurlan's offer. He had nothing else to do during this period of time so…

"I am in," he and Hemingr shook hands.

"Welcome to Du Frehor Orum."