of Silver Dreams and Golden Shadows
FIVE:- The Training Begins
"Are you sure you want to do this Jairah?"
The blonde elf looked up at Aragorn, "No. But I haven't got a choice."
"You're right, you don't"
The council chamber fell silent as they looked ar Reighn, she moved
into the room, face carefully blank. Now that she was clean and wearing
armor that was retrieved from the campsite just outside Rivendell, she
looked like nothing they had ever seen. She wore a tall necked blackened
ring mail shirt, its sleeves baggy like an oversize t-shirt that reached
her elbows, and the shirt split at her belt line, the slits on either side
were made for easier riding, and she wore a tight black undershirt. Her
hands were gloved in strong, yet soft black leather and she wore black
breeches that disappeared into black knee-high boots. Her mahogany (AN:
closest color I could find to describe the color - only it's slightly brighter
than that) was bound into a low ponytail with a wide strip of leather and
her piercing green eyes watched their reactions.
She had spent the night watching all of them, and
placing them into different categories of harmless, dangerous, deadly,
and don't-make-him-mad. She quickly sized up the Dwarf that was staring
at her, he had not been there last night. Nor had the wizard in white,
but she could sense his power, and realized that he would make a good ally.
She looked at Jairah, "We begin... Now."
The elf's eyes widened, "W-what are we going to do first?"
Reighn looked at the others out of the corner of her eye and spoke,
"First you are going to connect yourself to the earth, so that you can
sense other magical presences. Then when you have found your center, I
will teach you how to block out the overpowering sense of magic."
"Okay."
Reighn turned, "Come, we must be outside."
The Celtic woman led Jairah outside and to a grove
of trees. And much to the shock of all the others she had a forest green
over tunic waiting there. She removed her weapons (a dagger and throwing
knives) and then she removed the ring mail shirt, replacing it with the
tunic. She looked over to Jairah, "You cannot do this with weapons in the
circle, take them off."
It was a command and so, Jairah did what she was told, and follwed
Reighn to the center of the grove and knelt in front of her. Reighn opened
her eyes and looked into Jairah's, "You cannot do this without a guide.
Finding your center is the most important and most difficult of the training.
I will be filtering my training of blocking your senses from magical energy,
and you will subconciously do it, you will know how to use this sense,
and find your focus so you can walk the ley lines."
She took both of Jairah's hands in her now ungloved ones, "Close your
eyes. Look deep into yourself. Look for a source of light. It will be a
colour, when you find it, tell me the color."
Jairah moved into herself, searching for this light, and when she found
it, it was a sight to behold. Her spiritual self stood in front of a crystaline
pedistal, and floating above it was a pulsing orb of light. It flickered
between withe and a shade between amber and red. "It's an odd red-amber
color," she said softly.
Reighn smiled at this, "The color of your core determines what out
of the earth you can control. In your case, you can use fire to your advatange,
and reform the earth. You will be able to move mountains in time.... Now,
touch the orb."
Jairah did as she was told, and she felt a jolt and suddenly appeared
in a place that held a glowing silver blue energy in the form if a web,
brancing out in all directions, and connecting. She opened her amber eyes
and was surpirsed to see Reighn standing in front of her, her clothes solid
white. Jairah looked down at herself and nitoticed that her clothes were
white as well.
Reighn spoke, voice echoing, "Welcome to the web. This is the source
of our magic, each line is a ley line, these you can draw on to aid your
magic, so that you do not pull on your life energy. Where we stand not
is the Center. This is where our Power comes from. We are all connected
to it, the web will come to your defense at all times, but the effects
can be devistating, and it does not do it unless you are in complete peril."
"Ah, the new one."
Jairah looked up to see a tall ice blue eyed man walking toward them.
His white hair was pure as snow, and reached his waist, his cloting was
white. He walked along one of the lines. Reighn smiled, "Athair..."
He smiled when he reched them, "Hello child."
"Who?"
He smiled at the elf and spoke, "Why, I am the sword Athair. I am a
spirit sword, a magical being created by the power of the First, with the
aid of the web itself."
"Athair is the one who trained me Jairah," Reighn spoke, "Well, he
and the web taught me. When he was a human, many lifetimes ago he was a
fire-caller like you are. I suspected this because of the shade of your
eyes. I cannot teach you to weild the magic, I can only teach you to harness
it. Fire is not one of my powers. Athair has offered to teach you."
Jairah nodded, "Then I am centered?"
"Aye," Reighn smiled, "I must tell you one thing, When you leave the
web you will be both mentally and physically drained, this exhaustion will
dissapear with the control you will gain and as you gain experiance in
walking the Web. Athair can only teach you here, because he only exhists
in his true form on this plane. He will meet you in your dreams."
"But the nightmares?"
Here Athair spoke, "Rieghn has all the powers except the one you wield
- you will learn of these as well - one of which is Dream-weaving. While
I teach you to block out the Sense she will enter the part of your mind
that contains your dreams, even though you cannot remember them. For these
nightmares to come to you the one doing so must have something attached
to you in some way, because he could not without a source, because the
Web protects its people. She will find the source and find a way to retrieve
it."
"Aye," Reighn spoke, "I will leave you now, because I will be of no
use. You will not feel me in your mind."
With these last words, she dissapeared in a flash of green light.
*****
When Reighn exited the Web she nearly collapsed.
Holding Jairah to the center and transferring the control of it had taken
more out of her than she was willing to admit. When her breating eased
she sat straight again and took Jairah's hands again. The elf's eyes were
closed and her face was clam and relaxed. Reighn took a deep breath and
closed her eyes, allowing herself to be pulled into Jairah's mind by the
torment that covered the depths of it. Her spirit-self reappeared in the
recurring nightmare, and the green eyed woman watched it for a moment before
begining to trace the connection to Jairah's mind. The glowing strand of
energy led her for a long time, and to her it felt like eternity. She felt
herself pass into a realm where the land was sick and dieing, the ley lines
thinning. She was blasted of a vision of a tall volcanoe, a castle set
into its side. She was led into it and into a room.
She was shocked at what she saw. The strand of energy
connected to a man, one who was unconcious and bleeding. And orc to her
right spoke and to her it sounded like shouting in a canyon, "WHy did Sauron
ever resserect him anyway?"
"We do not question our master," another hissed.
Reighn turned to the man, pushing their words away from her mind. This
man did look like he had been touched by death, yet he was young and srtong.
Suddenly she felt a yank on her spirit form and she was pulled from Jairah's
mind and into the man's. His thoughts were tormented and she learned his
name. Images swirled around in confusion... This man, he was so confused
and hurting. Through the darkness she could see a form standing in the
center of the madness, it was the man, in the center of it all. THen she
noticed that she was the only spot of pure light in this mind. She walked
toward him, and she saw him kneel on on knee his face in his hands as he
tried to sort it all out.
She reached him and placed a hand on his bare shoulder,
his head snapped up and he looked at her with wide, serene brown eyes.
Everything around him froze, and she subconciously began to put things
back where they belonged. She knelt next to him and noticed the tearstains
on his cheeks. She whiped them away with her glowing thumbs and kissed
his forehead. He was staring at her, the torment within him begining to
calm. Reighn spoke, "Hello Boromir of Gondor."
His eyes widened, "W-who are you?"
She smiled, the action calming him, "I am a friend."
"I don't understand."
"I have traveled far on the spirit planes to find you," she explained,
"You have been ressurected, your thoughts are confused because of this.
The torment you feel is that of being used by the Dark Lord Sauron to cast
evil dreams into Jairah, daughter of Sandros. The pain you feel is the
physical torture being put to your body."
She pulled him to his feet and he looked around in awe. His thoughts
were clicking into place, and he became aware of what was real and what
was not - and this was real, "Will you not tell me why?"
"Shhh," she whispered, placing a finger over his lips, "I have found
you, and I will not leave you alone. I know now what is going on, and I
have begun the process of healing your mind. You must do the rest."
"I-"
Her eyes sparkled at the handsome man before her, and she began to
fade, her energy dpeleated "I must leave you here, but I will not be gone.
If you need me, call my name in your mind and I will come.... I am called
Reighn."
She faded completely and Boromir was left standing there, his world
lighter. SHe was gone, yet he could still feel her there with him, and
he was comforted.
